When You Were Young
by TheLittleMoonLover
Summary: Sakura is twenty years old, a well-respected medical ninja, and knows what she wants in life. But when she's thrown back in time she's faced with a forlorn 17 year old Kakashi who is so different from the confident man she left in the present. Will Sakura be able to help the past Kakashi? Or will she lose them both? [KAKASAKU FIC]
1. I Want You

**-Author's Greeting-**

Hello loves! I very recently finished a Naruhina fanfiction and I thought 'Why not keep going with the Naruto Fanfic?'. I've had this idea rattling around in my head for quite a while and what better couple to write it for than my favorite Crack!Ship? I've been trying to work out logistically the ages and things, and from what I've seen many folks place Kakashi at around the age 25-26 in pre-shippuden and around 28-29 in Shippuden itself so I will be basing the ages around that. In the fic itself Sakura is twenty years old and Kakashi is thirty-two to thirty-four years old. If you have any questions or are confused about something feel free to inbox me or leave a review and I will get back to you to the best of my ability!

Thank you and enjoy the fic!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of it's changes.

* * *

"Sakura are you about ready?" Kakashi leaned against the doorway of her office with his hands planted firmly in his pockets.

Sakura looked up from her paperwork and smiled warmly "Yeah just about," she replied pushing back the chair and standing "I just have to do one last check on my patients then—"

"Uh-huh," Kakashi said cutting her off "and then you're stuck here for another two hours. I've talked to the nurses and they told me that they are more than capable of holding down the fort while you leave and take a much needed rest." Kakashi held out a hand to her and she chewed on the inside of her cheek, she _had_ just worked a fourteen hour shift…

She took the hand and he drew her from her office "Have you eaten recently?" he asked and she blushed "Thought not, come on I'll feed you."

He walked ahead of her as they exited the hospital, Sakura watched the cloth on his broad back shift as he walked and she found herself blushing a deeper shade of crimson before looking away. Sakura still had trouble figuring out how to act around her former teacher. Memories of hot breath and shaking fingers pulling at clasps filled her mind.

Steeling her courage she reached out and linked her fingers through his and frowned when he quickly pulled away. "Sakura, we can't." he admonished gently.

"We already have Kakashi." Sakura retorted letting her temper get the best of her.

Kakashi changed the subject "How are Sasuke and Naruto doing? I haven't spoken with them since before I left."

That's because you left on a mission so quickly, Sakura thoughts dryly raising her eyebrows at his attempt at a low-blow.

"They're fine, actually Naruto is great right now—he and Hinata are expecting a baby." Sakura smiled brightly, her prior thoughts momentarily left behind. It was something that had cheered her up over the last few weeks when she'd been confused beyond belief.

"And Sasuke?" Kakashi asked turning to look at her but not meeting her eyes, he was trying to make her feel guilty too Sakura realized with a jolt.

"Sasuke is doing great—on a mission right now. But as soon as he gets back he's got a date with Mai, Ino's cute flower shop assistant. We've been trying to set them up for months." Mai had come to the village only a year earlier to start over after her village had been slaughtered by rogues, Sasuke had quickly connected with the shy and quiet girl and they'd become good friends. They could relate to one another's pain in a way that Sakura couldn't even begin to—and Ino thought they looked adorable together.

"Oh?" Kakashi asked slyly "And you're alright with that?"

Sakura stopped walking "Kakashi stop that! Stop acting like what happened didn't and stop acting like I'm still sixteen years old with an undying crush on an old friend!" she looked down at her feet with her face flaming angrily.

"I'm doing this because it shouldn't have happened Sakura." Kakashi intoned whilst still not looking at her "I'm your teacher for gods sake and I'm over a decade older than you." He ran a hand roughly through his feathery white hair.

"Not anymore you're not. I'm an_ adult_ Kakashi, have been for a while, I make my own decisions. You didn't coerce me into your bed, I was there of my own free will and I actually _enjoyed_ myself. Is that such a crime?" there she'd said it.

Kakashi still wouldn't look at her, angrily stomping forwards she tilted his head with her hands until his eyes met hers and the look of utter guilt she found there made her chest hurt. Beneath it she could see the soft tenderness, the lines around his eyes slackened as one of his hands came up to cup her own.

"Kakashi…" she began but the sound of a blade whistling through the air towards them cut her off, she took her hands off of his face and placed them flat on his chest and then pushed him roughly away from her just as a kunai whizzed between them and embedded itself in a nearby wall.

The pair was immediately on the defensive, Sakura's back hit Kakashi's as darkly dressed ninjas began to appear. They were all darkly cloaked with flat cone shaped hates shading their features. They immediately engaged the pair and soon Kakashi and Sakura were no longer back to back but fending off multiple attackers as best as they could.

Sakura did her best to keep up with her attackers but was having trouble landing any hits what so ever due to their speed and the fact that her reaction times were off because she'd just worked a fourteen hour shift. They were as silent as they were fast, she could hear her harsh ragged breathing and that of Kakashi's but these ninjas made little to no sound except for the occasional sound of metal meeting metal or their sandals making grinding noises on the gravel beneath them.

"Sakura! Get out of here!" Kakashi bellowed over his shoulder as he blocked one of the ninja's blades with his own.

"Like hell!" Sakura yelled back as she finally landed a punch on one of the nearby ninjas, the man immediately crumpled to the ground. She patted her hands together as if clapping off invisible dust before turning to Kakashi, but out of the corner her eye she saw something hiding in the shadows of a nearby alley. A trio of ninja's stood around another kneeling in front of them. The kneeling ninja was performing lightening fast seals with his hands all the while muttering under his breath in a sort of chant.

All of a sudden a glowing circle appeared underneath Kakashi's feet and Sakura's legs moved on their own. She leapt for Kakashi and pushed him out of the circle just as it flashed with a white light, enveloping her within it and then she was gone. Away from Kakashi and into the unknown.

* * *

Kakashi stared at the spot that Sakura had just been; her shocked and worried face before the light had taken her had been burned into his memory. People milled around him, investigating and writing reports.

After Sakura had disappeared the ninjas around him had disappeared in black puffs of smoke—he'd grabbed one but the man had apparently had a false tooth filled with poison because he quickly ended his own life before Kakashi could get any information from him.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto's voice brought him from his private misery; he turned to look at his former student who was dressed in a flowing orange coat that had black flames licking at the hems. "What is it Naruto?" the man asked tiredly as he finally turned away from the burnt circle in the ground.

"Shikamaru might know what happened to Sakura—what kind of jutsu they used and…" Kakashi strode past Naruto towards a young man who was reading one of the reports of the scribes "You need to be more detailed you idiot," Shikamaru groaned "I guess I'll just have to do this myself, what a pain. Temari'll be pissed. Get out of her." He growled at the scribe before lifting his clipboard as if he was going to hit the smaller man and the scribe scurried off.

"Damn it Naruto you need to hire better scribes, d'you see this chicken scratch?" Shikamaru held the paper out to Naruto who ignored it "Okay you told me to grab Kakashi, what've you got Nara?"

"The jutsu they used is actually pretty recognizable to be honest—it should be impossible to use—but recognizable nonetheless." Shikamaru turned around to the table that he was leaning on and plucked a slender black volume from the top of the stack and leafed through it for a moment before finding the page that he was looking for he held the book out to Naruto but Kakashi snatched it from him and read it lightening fast before growling and thrusting the book at Naruto and turning to look at the burnt circle in the ground, his mind cranking at a thousand miles an hour as things began to make sense.

After a moment he heard Naruto exclaim from behind him: "Sakura's been sent back in time?!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Wow what an action packed first chapter! It felt good to finally write out what's been rattling around in my head since before I even started my other fanfiction 'My Place In The Sun'. Starting out there was already tension between Sakura and Kakashi which will be fleshed out as the chapters go along. I am warning you now that there will be smut sometime in this fanfiction so if that makes you uncomfortable this probably isn't the best fanfiction for you to read... **

**Anyways!**

**Please Read & Review!**

**-LittleMoonLover-**


	2. A Lesson in Time Travel

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.

* * *

Sakura's ears rang viciously as she slipped back into consciousness, she was lying on damp ground and a rock was digging into her lower back. She groaned and rolled over what had happened? Her memories were all a blur she'd been walking with Kakashi… and they'd been arguing… She sat up with a jolt as clarity replaced confusion, they'd been surrounded by strange ninjas and whilst they'd been fighting one of them had attempted to use a jutsu on Kakashi and she'd pushed him out of the way. Then a white light had engulfed her and she had been knocked out.

She examined her surroundings she was in some sort of forest—it looked familiar so she knew she was somewhere close to the village at least, they'd probably intended to use some sort of teleportation jutsu on Kakashi to spirit him away… her mind was cranking at full speed as she stood and patted off her clothing and rubbed her sore spots. The world tilted on it's axis as she finally got her footing and she had to brace herself against a nearby boulder. Why did her body feel so weak and shaky? Had that jutsu affected her so strongly? She leaned against the boulder for a moment letting it's cool surface seep into her shoulders as she focused on getting the world to stop spinning.

The sound of feet hitting the ground made her open her eyes, a dark shadow was leaping for her with a fist drawn backwards. She scrambled out of the way just as the person hit the boulder with such force that it cracked and splintered outwards in a spider web-like pattern.

Sakura managed to crouch in a defensive position but her head spun with the sudden movement and she staggered. The shape came at her again and hit her in the shoulder tossing her through the air and onto the ground knocking the air from her body with a whoosh.

The sound of a blade being unsheathed filled the small clearing and the tip of a thin blade was pressed to her throat, if she moved or even swallowed too hard the tip would puncture the skin. "State your name and business." The masked man asked and Sakura quickly recognized him to be a part of the ANBU Black Ops.

The sword tip moved slightly away from her throat and she let out a larger breath as her chest ached "Why are you attacking me? I'm one of you!" she asked and reached into her pocket to pull out her forehead protector but the movement made the sword tip return to hovering over her throat.

"Kakashi! Stand down!" a voice barked from behind them and the ANBU immediately stepped backwards, Sakura sat up with a confused expression marring her features. Kakashi? She looked around for the older man expecting him to be standing off to the side ready to rip apart the ANBU from limb to limb but she didn't see him. What she did see, however, was a small group of ninjas standing off to the side a few feet behind them.

"Are you alright young lady?" a gruff voice asked and Sakura opened her mouth to respond but what came from her throat was a strangled gasp as her eyes landed on the person who had asked the question.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the third hokage, stood before her fully alive and surrounded by other masked ANBU operatives.

"Kakashi I believe I told you to stand down, look at whats in her hand." The masked ANBU in front of her tilted his head down to look at the forehead protector that was clutched in her hand.

"Wait…" Sakura said quietly as her eyes found the shock of white hair that was sticking in several different directions behind the mask. "… Kakashi…-sensei?"

The ANBU jerked backwards away from her and looked towards Sarutobi who gave a little nod; the ANBU moved a hand to his mask and slid it up.

Kakashi's face was thinner and the little laugh lines that usually adorned his eyes were gone, mismatched eyes stared blankly back at her—one was so dark that it was nearly black and the other was red. He still had the sharingan.

Clarity suddenly hit Sakura, her mind had been rebelling from it for the past few minutes ever since she'd laid eyes on the third hokage. Somehow… somehow she'd been sent back in time.

* * *

Twenty minutes later they were sitting in the Hokage's office, Sakura marveled at how different it looked from the way Naruto or Lady Tsunade had kept it. More often then not the grand desk that sat in front of the wall of windows would be covered with multitudes of paper, coffee (or in Lady Tsunade's case alcohol), and other clutter that tended to make the place seem like a disorganized mess. But Sarutobi's desk was clean, immaculate even—an open notepad sat off to one side a long with a fancy fountain pen. On the edge of a desk sat a picture of a little baby. Sakura wondered if that was Konohamaru—but she also wondered if Konohamaru was even alive.

Kakashi—well the younger Kakashi—was standing against one wall with his arms crossed as he stared at Sakura silently. No one had spoken to her on the way to the compound and now they all sat silently and staring at one another as if daring someone to speak.

"So you're from the future." Sarutobi remarked and Sakura jumped, how had he known? She hadn't said anything other than Kakashi's name followed by the sensei honorific.

"…How do you know I'm from the past?" Sakura asked hesitantly shifting uncomfortable in her seat.

"Well I didn't know it was you persay I was with a team of shinobi investigating a strange wave of chakra that echoed from the forest. We found the circle… burnt into the ground."

Circle? When she'd woken there hadn't been any circle. She looked down at her hands and knees which were scraped.

"The circle was about twenty feet away from where you were attacked by Kakashi here." Sarutobi informed her gruffly.

So… Sakura thought, I skidded? Like a skipping rock? For some reason the thought of her bouncing like that made her blush.

"How do you know so much about time traveling? I thought such jutsu's didn't exist and were impossible?" Sakura finally asked.

"Not impossible, very hard? Yes. Highly immoral? Also yes. But not impossible. Time travel has been tabooed by all shinobi because of the unpredictable nature of it, most things that a person who goes back in time does can be reversed if the jutsu is done properly, but that's rare. And things like new deaths? Permanent. If you were to go back into the past to meet yourself you would both cease to exist. Now, young lady, tell me. What are you doing here?" Sarutobi's friendly grandfather face disappeared and was replaced by an utterly serious and slightly terrifying one. Suddenly she'd become an enemy, they didn't know why she was here they probably thought that she'd come back to assassinate someone.

"My name is Sakura Haruno. I was sent here by accident—well sort of…" Sakura said slowly and watched Sarutobi shift. "You are alive in this time then?"

Sakura stopped and thought for a moment before turning to Kakashi "How old are you?" he didn't answer her and she turned to Sarutobi "He's seventeen years old."

Sakura reeled at this information for a moment; she was actually older than him for once! "Then yes I am alive. I should be around three or four years old at the time, I can't tell you much more about myself since you just told me that time travel is unpredictable at best." Sakura folded her hands on her lap, the sick dizzy feeling that she'd been experiencing ever since she'd woken up faded a little bit as her mind sorted and filed away bits of information.

"Yes that would be best, most likely once you return to your own time all information about you—well the future you—will cease to exist in our minds. But one can never be sure." Sarutobi agreed. "You said it was an accident that you were sent back in time—if you could explain?"

Sakura breathed inwards, should she tell them? She had no reason not to trust them, she knew both of them!

No she didn't, a little voice in her head told her, fifteen years made a big difference in men. She hesitantly turned to look at Kakashi who was leaning against the wall looking back at her with a sullen expression that she'd never seen on the older Kakashi's face.

"I… I was walking home with a… friend…" she began slowly "And we were surrounded by strange ninja—we fought them off but there was another one doing a really complicated looking jutsu and muttering something. Suddenly a glowing circle appeared under… under him and I pushed him out of the way and then I woke up here."

"So it can be understood that you were not the target and that your friend was?" Sarutobi was as sharp as ever.

"Y-yes. It can be." Sakura allowed slowly dreading the next question. Tension filled the air as Sarutobi sat quietly for a moment.

"Who was this friend, this intended target?" he finally demanded staring straight into her eyes.

Sakura gulped hard "Hatake Kakashi."

* * *

**Author's Note: **

**So here is the second chapter! From here on out I'll be posting whether it's in the past or the future because I'll be switching back and forth quite a bit in the chapters (okay that might be an exaggeration but still). **

**I should be updating this once a week at the least depending on how busy I am or how not busy I am. I'm hoping for this to be at least a ten chapter story or so but we'll see. **

**If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask in a review or just shoot me a message via inbox!**

**Anywho!**

**Please Read & Review!**

**-LittleMoonLover-**


	3. Differences in Time

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.

* * *

**PAST - Hokage's Compound, Hokage's Office**

The office was silent for a moment, Sarutobi's eyes left Sakura's and he stared over her shoulder at the silent ANBU standing against a wall. Opening his mouth he looked as if he was going to say something but was immediately cut off by Kakashi who, up until this point, had been silent.

"Thats impossible." The white haired shinobi interjected harshly as he pushed away from the wall "My life is of no value nothing can be gained from erasing me from history." he glared sullenly at Sakura who for about the thousandth time marveled at how different this Kakashi was from his future-counterpart.

Sakura swiveled around in her chair to face him full on "You say that but you have no idea what your future is like." she met his sullen look with one of pure ferocity.

"If the jutsu was meant for me then you should have just let my future self be sent through it. No smart and sane ninja would martyr themselves like you have."

The irony of the entire situation almost made Sakura laugh, it was true that they were taught in school that you can't always be the hero-that your survival and the completion of the mission was of the utmost importance and the man, well more of a boy than anything, standing before her lived by that rule. But the man she knew was always the hero and always willing to risk himself for his teammates and for the good of the village.

"What are you anyways?" the young Kakashi foolishly continued "A chunin? Don't tell me you're not even that who are you to speak to me like you know me." the white haired teen spat at her.

"Kakashi." Sarutobi warned but Sakura's patience had reached it's end. She stood lightening fast and pushed Kakashi into the wall, drawing back as if to punch him but missing him by a tenth of a centimeter and driving her fist into the wall next to his head. The wall shattered with a loud crack until her fist met the air of the room next door.

She stood nose-to-nose with him breathing heavily as the white-hot anger seeped from her shoulders and she pulled her fist back through the wall and dropped it to her side. They stared at each other for a split second, Kakashi's visible eye had widened and she could see her jaw drop behind the black mask that he wore.

The tension broke a moment later when the sound of Sarutobi's chuckles reached them, they turned simultaneously to see the third hokage bent over his desk laughing. Sakura felt her cheeks redding and she hurried back to her chair and bowed "I'm very sorry Sarutobi-sama."

"Don't be young lady!" the hokage continued to laugh for a few moments before leaning back in his chair and wiping the wetness away from his eyes "Kakashi I warned you, you shouldn't piss off the apprentice of Tsunade."

Sakura looked at Sarutobi in surprise "How do you know that?" she asked.

The older man tapped his forehead and Sakura's own hand came up to touch the diamond shaped purple seal that had adorned her forehead for the last three years "I could spot that seal anywhere young lady," he turned to Kakashi and his eyes turning cold "Apologize for your rudeness Kakashi."

Kakashi grudgingly bowed at the waist "I sincerely apologize." he said blankly but Sakura knew that he was anything but apologetic. Sarutobi seemed convinced, the stiffness in his shoulders dissipated and he smiled a grandfatherly smile, "Wonderful, now as for your little time-travelling problem my dear I will be giving you a guard-Kakashi will do since he needs to be watched as well just in case his future self decides to turn up."

"What!" Kakashi and Sakura shouted together standing and moving forwards, Sakura did not want to be in the company of this Kakashi any longer than she had to. The differences between the two men were as opposite as night and day and Sakura prayed fervently that she could go back to her own time soon.

"Yes it's rather perfect isn't it? At least Miss Sakura can be guarded by someone she knows and she is perfectly capable of protecting you as well Kakashi, it'll be mutually beneficial." Kakashi opened his mouth to protest but Sarutobi cut him off "And it's also and order Kakashi."

Kakashi stepped back and nodded resolutely, Sakura looked down at her hands and even though her inner self was telling her to protest being stuck with the younger Kakashi she quelled it down and looked back at the third hokage who was watching her.

"Um Sarutobi-sama? When do you think we can get started on sending me back I really would like to get back." she asked sweetly hoping it would hurry the process.

Sarutobi sighed "I should have told you this right after I explained time travel, Sakura, but the only way to be sent back to your own time is if you are pulled back from the time you originally came from. So until those on your end figure it out i'm afraid that you're stuck here with us."

* * *

**PRESENT - Hokage's Compound, Large Conference Room**

Kakashi paced the span of the large conference room impatiently, Naruto had called a meeting and people were slowly filling the seats that were at a long conference table. Hinata, who wore a worried expression, was filling up coffee cups and offering those who came in food, Ino hovered over her friend wearing a similar expression and helping out in any way that she could.

Kakashi knew he should be organizing his thoughts and trying to find a solution or create a plan, but his mind kept replaying the events of the last two hours in his head and stopping on Sakura's surprised expression as the light flashed.

"Kakashi-sensei?" a gentle voice broke through his quiet misery. Hinata held out a cup of coffee, looking at him with a concerned expression. Ino stood silently behind him shooting him cold looks. Of course the two of them would know all about the change in he and Sakura's relationship the three of them were close.

He took the coffee with a grunt of thanks and avoided their eyes as he sipped the bitter brew.

"You should have protected her." Ino's voice shook with anger.

"Ino!" Hinata admonished her friend lightly turning towards the blond who shook her head as she glared at Kakashi "Not even from just this-it wasn't him who sat with her over the last few weeks as she tried to muddle through the shit he put her through, it wasn't him who watched her throw herself into her work, it was us!"

"Ino!" Hinata stated again this time more tersely as she slapped a hand over her friends mouth, looking around to see who had been listening in on the little scene. No one had turned to watch and if they'd heard anything they weren't showing it.

"You're right." Kakashi replied quietly not meeting their eyes as he turned and headed towards an empty seat leaving Ino and Hinata standing and whispering together. He leaned back in the soft chair and ran a hand over his face, making sure not to disturb the black cloth mask that he wore as his thoughts wandered back in time to two weeks ago.

"_Kakashi if you keep showing up like this the nurses will get the wrong idea." Sakura teased as they walked down an empty street, it was ten o' clock at night and Kakashi hadn't wanted her to walk home in the dark by herself despite the fact that she could very probably take down anyone who wanted to cause her harm. _

"_Nah i'm an old man they probably just think that i'm being grandfatherly." he smiled at her and she snorted and muttered something under her breath. _

"_What was that?" he asked curiously and she blushed. _

"_Nothing, hey you wanna stop for a drink?" she pointed at a nearby bar, changing the subject. _

"_I don't know… I have a policy against drinking with students."_

"_Well then it's a good thing i'm no longer your student then, huh? C'mon!" she grinned at him and hurried over to the entrance to the bar. _

_Kakashi watched her go and for the first time he realized that she was right-he didn't see her as a student anymore. He followed her into the bar. _

The sound of books and papers hitting the table brought Kakashi back to the present and he jerked up looking around for the person responsible for the sound. Naruto stood at the helm of the table a couple of chairs away next to Shikamaru who had dropped a pile of scrolls and books down onto the table.

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen here is whats going on. You've all been called here for a reason, and that reason is to find and retrieve Sakura Haruno-a level ten medic and respected kunoichi." Naruto's eyes swept the group, his expression utterly serious "Sakura was transported back in time around two hours ago by an unknown group. Shikamaru here has been delving into the archives looking into anything that he can about time travel jutsus and from what I've seen is that they can be very unpredictable and can cause a lot of damage." he turned to Shikamaru who stepped forwards.

"I've been trying to get a lock on when and where Sakura has been transported and I can only gauge because in all honesty we really don't know. I've been looking in old Hokage's logs and around fifteen years ago the third Hokage mentions time travel, this is the first time it's mentioned in any logs whatsoever even though the knowledge of this jutsu has been recorded for a very long time-it's taboo for a reason. Any actions that Sakura makes in the past could cause things in the future to change-if she meets her past-self who would be around five years old-then they will both disappear anything that they have done will cease to exist."

The gravity of the situation seemed to dawn on everyone in the room-well everyone except one ninja whose brow furrowed "How exactly would that change everything? Haruno can't be that important."

Kakashi very nearly stood and berated the ninja who he'd never seen before, surely this man was kidding, but Naruto beat him to the chase.

"You would be very surprised. Sakura has been a key part of most of our lives, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her and Madara-no Kaguya-would have succeeded in taking over the world. She'd healed most of us in this room," Naruto looked down at his wife and placed a hand on her shoulder "and has provided constant support. If we don't bring Sakura back then the world as we know it would change."

* * *

**Author's Note: **

**Here is chapter three for everyone! It's funny how one person could affect so much without everyone even realizing it, especially the person who doesn't think that they matter or that they don't make an impact. Take one piece of the puzzle out or take one screw out of an engine and suddenly nothing works and everything falls apart... aaand i'm getting sentimental oops. Anyways this chapter was more or less and informational chapter. Although I did like the Ino & Hinata bit because you just know Sakura confided in them right away.**

**Anywho.**

**Please Read & Review!**

**-LittleMoonLover-**


	4. The Safehouse

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.

* * *

**PAST - Konoha, Hokage's Compound**

Sakura followed Kakashi silently down a long hallway, they'd been dismissed from the Hokage's office ten minutes ago and Kakashi had been ordered to take her to the safe house-Sakura idly wondered if it was the same one from fifteen years in the future. But when Kakashi turned down a hallway and began descending a flight of stairs Sakura realized it wasn't.

"Um… where is this safehouse exactly?" she asked quietly but was given silence in return, she chuckled darkly to herself-he was probably still angry at her for punching a hole in the wall next to his head earlier. They took a hard left and headed through a tunnel that led out into a small garden.

"Where are we?" Sakura asked looking around at the round meadowy area with wonder, she'd never seen this place before-stone walls rose up around them and funneled upwards until Sakura could see the blue sky passing overhead.

"Safehouse." Kakashi grunted as he headed further into the meadow.

"Really? I've never been here before where it is it looks like we're in the middle of some sort of…" clarity clicked for her again "We're smack dab in the middle of the Hokage's monument mountain aren't we?!" she did a little three-sixty as she took in the world around her.

Kakashi didn't reply but kept walking further forcing her to follow him, her sandals crunched on the grass beneath her feet as she did so.

"But how is this able to be hidden here? Anyone overhead would be able to see the great big gaping hole in the top!" Sakura looked up again at the large hole that shown light down on them.

"Genjutsu." was all Kakashi said and turned to her "You will not leave this area without permission from myself and even then you will be accompanied by me or another guard if I can swing it."

He spoke to her without looking at her, his uncovered eye looking out past her. Sakura chewed at the inside of her lip wishing she could talk to him like she could with the older Kakashi, she briefly wondered for a moment what would make him like this. He looked at the world accusatoringly-as if it was going to reach out and knock him down.

He was only seventeen, she'd been that age a few years ago in the midst of a world rebuilding after war-she'd been too young to realize what it does to you in the long run. She still woke up in the middle of the night after having nightmares, but the only people who'd she'd been able to talk to about them had been Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi and Kakashi had always been the one who she could get to easier.

Did this Kakashi have anyone like that? It'd been for years since the fourth Hokage died… who had talked to him about all the death around him and brought him back from the brink? I don't think anyone has, Sakura realized with a jolt and she gripped her fists wishing she could comfort him in some way to tell him that Rin, Minato, and Obito's deaths weren't his fault. She wish that she could tell him all she knew as if that would make it better somehow. But it's not your place. She reminded herself, It's not your job to meddle with the past because it could change the future. There is going to be some way-some person or some event that will make him the way he is in the future…

"Haruno." Kakashi's voice cut through her inner turmoil and she jerked around to look at him, he was standing in front of a small traditional style house that hadn't been there before.

Ignoring the fact that he'd called her by her surname she gazed at it with wonder "They put a genjutsu on the house right? As a second line of defense?"

Kakashi nodded once and turned to walk towards the house and Sakura followed him, finally deciding to have a little fun with the weird situation that she'd been placed in.

"Aren't you curious?" she asked climbing up the wooden steps behind him.

"About what?" he replied as he slid open one of the paper doors and stepped inside motioning for her to follow.

"About me? About why I called you 'sensei'? Hell about your future life and what it's like?" she goaded him as she shut the door behind them. They were in what looked like a small sitting room, the floor was covered with tatami mats and a low to the ground table sat in the middle of the room surrounded by cushions, there was another open door that looked like what led to a kitchen and then another closed door that must lead to the bedrooms.

"It's none of my business and it's against my orders to ask you anything." the ninja replied blandly before turning and entering the closed door and shutting it behind me.

"Hey aren't you supposed to be guarding me?" she called after him.

"Yell if you get into any trouble." came the voice and Sakura crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out at the closed paper door. She didn't like this Kakashi very much.

Turning to the kitchen her stomach grumbled, she wasn't very good in the kitchen-it was something she'd resigned herself to a long time ago. Things tended to burn or just plain fall a part when she tried (and Hinata had tried her best to teach her but had eventually given up and started sending her already cooked food).

"I'm sure I can do something simple." she muttered to herself and tied on an apron.

Fifteen minutes later she yelped as the shrimp she'd been trying to fry up lit on fire in the pan, the sound of thumping footsteps filled the house as the door was thrown open. Kakashi stood panting as the oil popped and caught on fire.

"What are you doing?!" he growled stepped forwards and grabbing the pan without gloves and threw it into the sink which was filled with water. The fire blazed for another moment before sputtering and going out. Kakashi turned towards her furiously "Are you trying to set the place on fire?!"

Sakura mourned over her shrimp for a moment, she actually thought that she hadn't been doing so bad and the shrimp had begun to smell tast too, but when her eyes caught sight of his hands that were raw and burned from grabbing the pan she switched immediately to medic mode. "Let me see your hands." She said.

Kakashi who had been mid-rant stopped "What?"

"I said let me see your hands." she shoved him gently back into the sitting room and sat him down on at cushion before sitting in front of him and turned his hands slowly over until they were palm up. "Ouch, these burns are pretty bad." she hissed through her teeth.

"And who's fault is that?" Kakashi growled and she hushed him.

Centering herself she tapped into her chakra, channeling it to her hands until they growed a fresh mint green. Kakashi made a noise at her lack of hand seals but she didn't seem to notice as she slid her hands gently over his letting her healing jutsu seep into the burned fingers.

After a few minutes she pulled away and inspected her handy-work, new pink skin replaced the burned. "You'll need to build up your calluses again." she informed him in her medical voice.

"Thanks alot." he grunted "Why were you cooking if you can't cook?"

"Because," Sakura replied standing and brushing her hairs out of her face "I was hungry." she whipped away from him and stomped to the door that led to the bedrooms.

"Then you should have asked I can cook well enough." Kakashi stood and patted off his black shinobi gear.

"You should have said that from the beginning Mr. Stoic. Jeez you never have this problem usually." she turned back towards him and then realized what she'd just said and slapped a hand over her mouth.

Kakashi looked at her for what seemed like the first time "Oh? I don't?"

Sakura closed her mouth with a snap and turned her chin up "I thought you weren't supposed to ask me any questions." she planted her hands on her hips.

"I didn't." he said simply before heading into the kitchen to make food.

* * *

**PRESENT - Konoha, Morgue**

The meeting broke up an hour later with plans to come together again the next evening with more information. Scribes were currently scouring the archives for any information and another medical ninja was doing an autopsy on the dead ninja who had poisoned himself upon capture.

"Sakura would be the best for this." Naruto remarked as he and Kakashi watched the autopsy being performed through a viewing window.

"Yeah." Kakashi agreed.

"Naruto-sama?" the medical ninja's voice came in through the intercom. Naruto pressed the button to talk "What is it?"

"You might want to see this."

Kakashi and Naruto headed inside the autopsy room and over to the table where the dead ninja lay naked. The med-nin had taken off his mask showing an older face filled with lines and little flecks of scar tissue. "What am I supposed to be looking at?" Naruto asked as he stepped up next to the med-nin.

The nin rolled the body over exposing the back of the man's neck. A tattoo sat at the base of his neck, it was an odd symbol that Kakashi had never seen before. It was a circle with some sort of writing inside of it.

"What kind of symbol is this, is it a sort of gang tattoo?" Kakashi asked as he pulled on a glove and pressed the tattoo with his forefinger.

"I'm not sure, I'm going to copy it and send it over to the scribes-but thats not even the most interesting thing about it." he used a metal probe and slid it underneath a flap of skin on the neck that he'd cut earlier and lifted it showing the first layer of muscles. The same mark marked the muscles of the man's neck. "It goes deeper and deeper and I'm assuming that it's on his bones as well."

"Is it a jutsu?" Naruto asked with his brow furrowing.

The medical ninja nodded "I've never seen it before but i've heard of it. Gangs use this jutsu to mark their members so there is no chance of them getting away-you can't burn this tattoo off as soon as the skin heals it will reappear. This technique is not as widely used now since it is pretty hard to do correctly and there is always a chance that you will kill the person who you are giving the tattoo to but my father used to talk about them being popular with gangs maybe twenty or so years ago."

"So do you think this man is a part of a gang?" Naruto asked, his eyes never leaving the tattoo.

"Maybe-like I said it was popular twenty years ago." The medical ninja replied.

"Well if we were dealing with anything else than time travel jutsu I might believe you." Naruto muttered under his breath "Alright Kakashi I want yout to head over to the scribes and ask them to look into gangs from around fifteen to twenty years ago. Lets see if we can pinpoint the bastards that we're dealing with."

* * *

**PAST - Konoha, Secret Safehouse**

Sakura bit into the meatbun that Kakashi had cooked and groaned with delight over the yummy salty taste that filled her mouth. "This is actually pretty good." She said to no one in particular, Kakashi had taken his food and went outside to eat by himself. "Too bad his manners aren't better I might actually like him." Sakura kept talking to herself, she idly wondered whether or not that was a sign of her sanity slipping away.

After finishing her food she stood and took her empty plate into the kitchen and rinsed it clean and then headed to explore the rest of the house, opening the closed portion of the house she looked into a small hallway with two doors on either side and another at the end of the hall. She opened the first door she got to and was greeted with a small room that had a rucksack sitting on the low to the ground bed. This must be Kakashi's room, she thought to herself as she slowly closed the door and turned to the other. This room was empty except for a stack of clothing sitting on the best. She opened the door at the end of the hall last which revealed a large bathroom with stairs that descended to the ground where a sunken in stone bath sat steaming. "A hot spring!" Sakura gasped appreciatively.

"Are you done snooping?" Kakashi asked from behind her causing her to jump and yelp slightly.

"Could you make some noise or something?" she glared at him as she climb back up the steps and passed by him in the doorway, he stood almost an entire head taller than her-he wasn't done growing just yet he would grow to be nearly two and a half heads taller than she. "Thank you for the food." she said quietly as she hurried down the hallway and into her room.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Another chapter out of the way! This one was a bit longer than the others but a bit ramble-y so... yeah... it just furthers the plot a bit. Basically the safe house is a hollowed out hole in the middle of the Hokage's monument and the top has a powerful genjutsu so it looks like rock to the naked eye. The house itself is also under a genjutsu so that the only people who can see it are those it needs to protect. You will all eventually figure out what happens to it in the future and why Sakura never knew about it. **

**If there are any spelling mistakes I apologize I wrote this with no sleep so there are bound to be a couple.**

**Please Read & Review!**

**-LittleMoonLover-**


	5. Beside her Grave

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.

* * *

**PAST - Konoha, Secret Safehouse**

Kakashi lay back on the grass staring up at the sky which was barely visible through the trees, his charge has long ago gone to bed but his thoughts still lingered on her. This woman knew him from the future, and apparently the him from the future was much different than he was. He'd followed her further into the safehouse when she'd got exploring, his curiosity getting the best of him and when he'd called out to her she'd turned to him and for a split second had given him a look of mingled surprise and trepidation that had brought sharp words to his mouth. She'd pushed past him a moment later and had gone into her room.

He had headed outside afterwards for fresh air, being inside made him slightly claustrophobic since he was used to sleeping outside most nights when he was on ANBU missions and now the circle of stars above him were making him dizzy.

With a little groan he sat up and rested his arms on his knees, the woman bothered him and made him curious about things that he shouldn't be curious about. _Fifteen years huh? _He thought to himself, he had never considered that he would make it that long-let alone make anymore connections. His mind flashed back to the way that Haruno would sometimes look at him searchingly as if trying to connect him with his future self or the way that she was somehow expecting him to warm up to her.

Ridiculous, he thought standing up and making his way through the trees to the concealed entrance to the meadow of the safehouse. "Guy." he called out and a bowl-haired youth appeared next to him with a grin.

"So you got put on ice?" the boy laughed quietly.

"Can you take over for a couple of hours?" He asked, ignoring the other's ninja's question.

"Sure I can… but aren't you under lockdown too? Everyone is whispering about it apparently you're guarding some girl or another from another village and Sarutobi-sama placed you under strict orders to watch them." Guy needled for more information and Kakashi rolled his eyes-of course that bastard would give some crap story to the rest of the ninja populace. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his ANBU issued pants and shrugged.

"I have better things to do than babysit for twenty-four hours a day and since you are always so keen to follow me around you can help me out." he mounted the steps out of the meadow leaving Guy behind.

"I'll do my best!" the boy said saluting Kakashi but the white haired teen was already gone.

Twenty minutes later he stood in the Konoha Shinobi Cemetery staring at a white marble grave stone like he did every night:

**NOHARA RIN **

The gravestone read, he ran his fingers along the edges of the words before placing his hand on top of it. Coming to her grave was the only thing that would make the rage that usually bubbled within his chest as he went about his day subside. He'd lost nearly everything and somehow along the way and throughout the past years of ANBU mission after ANBU mission, he'd lost himself.

Leaving her grave behind he continued deeper into the graveyard and lingered at Obito's for a moment before heading to the area that had been set aside for dead Hokage's. A large stone stood by itself surrounded by large trees, the monuments were placed ten to fifteen feet apart. He stared up at it, they had buried them together-no one had even considered burying them apart.

He pushed back the memories of that night but he could still hear the baby's cries and the sight of his teacher and his teacher's beloved wife's bodies still together even in death.

Kakashi turned and walked away from their grave, his thoughts stormy.

* * *

**PAST - Konoha, Secret Safehouse**

The sound of birds chirping was the first thing Sakura heard upon awakening, she rolled over in the soft lavender smelling sheets and opened her eyes expecting to see the familiar picture of her and her teammates when they were twelve but all she saw was an empty room. The sleepy haze that she had been floating in vanished as she remembered the previous day's events.

Sitting up she rubbed her eyes, it was light out and it shone through the paper walls of the room. She got out of bed and changed into the civilians clothes that had been in the room when she had arrived, a green shirt and slimming black pants completed the outfit and Sakura plaited her now long pink hair.

Heading out into the main room her eyes landed on a someone sitting with their back to her, she stiffened "Who are you?" she asked in a hostile voice at the figure whipped around revealing a shiny black haired young man who looked nearly the same as he did the future just a little more-Sakura chuckled inwardly-youthful.

"Guy!" she blurted with surprise as the man stood up, she very nearly smiled until she remembered that this Guy didn't know who she was and she didn't know whether or not his personality was drastically different from his future self like Kakashi's was. "I mean…"

But the boy just grinned "Kakashi told you I would be watching you! Good!"

Sakura's eyebrows rose but she didn't contradict them "Where is Kakashi?" she asked heading further into the room.

"Here and there, he should be back soon." Guy stood and followed her into the kitchen as she found a glass and filled it with water "I wasn't sure of when you would be waking up-but you woke up just in time for morning training!" he bounced on the balls of his feet a little bit and Sakura grimaced, she had trained hard when she was younger but even Guy-sensei's workouts exhausted her. The exercises weren't particularly strenuous but coupled with his boundless energy the few times that she had trained with Guy and his team had left her sore for days.

"Uh… no thank you i'm fine." she waived his offer and he shrugged "It's fine! But could you be in eyesight while I train?"

"That won't be necessary." a voice from the door said, Kakashi stood in the doorway looking tired and irritable.

"Oho looks like thats my cue to leave!" Guy waved to Sakura before hurrying from the room.

"So what happened to you being on lockdown with me?" Sakura asked after a moment.

"I had things to do." the teen replied gruffly as he passed her to get to the sink, dark circles had formed underneath his eyes and he looked tired, he didn't look at her as he put the coffee pot on and opened up the small fridge.

Irritated Sakura made a noise in her throat and hurried out of the kitchen, leaving her glass on the table as she headed back into her room.

"Kakashi…" she said to herself as she threw herself onto the bed like a teenager, her mind went to the older Kakashi-she wondered what he was doing right now. Was he trying to get her back? Was it just easier to leave her where she was? "Where are you?"

* * *

**PRESENT - Konoha, The Apartment of Kakashi Hatake**

Kakashi sat on his bed, staring at the wall. Naruto had sent him home less than an hour ago, telling him to get some sleep and that he would call if they heard anything back from the scribes. But sleep was an elusive beast-one that he didn't want to find.

He hadn't been in his apartment for two weeks-he'd arrived back on his mission, was debriefed by Naruto, and had headed over to the hospital to see Sakura, something that he was beginning to regret doing. I_f I had had better self control she wouldn't have even been in this mess_, he berated himself, _they were after me, not her_. He threw himself backwards on the bed and the sheets lifted before settling around his head, the smell of flowers engulfed him. He was amazed that her scent had lasted two weeks but then again no one had slept in this bed for over two weeks. He inhaled deeply and finally let himself remember that night with crystal clarity.

_Kakashi watched Sakura knock back some of the hardest liquor that he had ever tasted and smile at him before grimacing "God you were right that is awful." she groaned and ordered a glass of ginger ale to wash the taste out of her mouth. _

_Kakashi chuckled "Still just a kid huh?" he teased and sipped his own glass, resisting the urge to grimace himself. _

"_I'm not!" Sakura protested, glowering at him as she sipped her own ginger ale "I'm an adult. I have an adult job and I do adult things. You've really got to stop looking at me like i'm twelve still." she admonished him giving him a little nudge with her elbow. _

_He opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by a squeal "Sakura!" Ino Yamanaka barreled into her best friend from behind. "You're out and about? How'd you manage to swing that Kakashi-sensei? I can hardly get a free moment out of her!" _

_Kakashi didn't reply feeling a little disgruntled-he never had any trouble seeing Sakura. She always had time for him. Maybe it was because he was Team 7-she probably gave Naruto and Sasuke the same. _

_Sakura was chatting idly with her friend, smiling and laughing her tinkling laugh. Kakashi's chest tightened oddly in a feeling that he hadn't felt in a long time, he pushed the annoying feeling deep down and sipped his drink. _

"_Lets do shots!" was the next thing he heard and suddenly he, Sakura, and Ino were standing in a line as shots were placed in front of them. He took his with trepidation, "I probably shouldn't be drinking with students…" he said again._

"_Not your students anymore!" the two women next to him chimed and downed their shots expertly. _

_Kakashi sighed and pulled down his mask just enough to knock back the fiery liquid. _

_Fifteen minutes later they were buzzed and laughing together as they walked down a dark street, they had dropped Ino off at her apartment where a sleepy Kiba (who had just gotten back from a mission) carried her giggling to bed. _

"_Kiba and Ino sure have a good relationship." Sakura mused as they walked together._

"_Yeah." Kakashi agreed, the alcohol was making his whole body warm. Sakura leaned against him suddenly and it was like a jolt of electricity ran up his arms making him jerk slightly._

"_Oh sorry!" Sakura said quickly standing up straight too fast and swaying on her feet, he grabbed her arms and steadied her ignoring the jolts of heat that he felt through his fingers. This was his student! These sorts of feelings weren't proper let alone moral. _

_He looked down at Sakura's face, a blush had risen to her cheeks and she was looking up at him through her lashes. Her hand came up between them and she gently grabbed the edge of his mask, not breaking eye contact with him. She'd only seen his face once before during the war because his mask had been ripped. It wasn't something he was used to showing people, but he let her drag it down over his nose and off of his sharp chin exposing his face. _

_She ran a hand down his bare cheek making goosebumps crawl up and down his arms and face as she stood on her tip toes and pressed her lips to his, heat exploded through him as he let go of her arms in favor over tugging her into his iron embrace and deepening the kiss…_

And then he woke up, the ceiling fan above his head spun lazily wafting air down on him. His mask had come down in his sleep and he lifted a hand to his lips which still tingled from the memories from his dream. Sakura's scent still whirled around him, he got up and sighed-steeling himself to face the day ahead.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Sorry for taking so long to update you would not believe how good at procrastinating I am! Anyways this chapter was written over the course of a couple of days so forgive any choppiness that this chapter has!**

**Anyways, I want to write Teen!Kakashi as angsty as possible because he has been hurt and he is all alone except for Guy (but he doesn't even realize that Guy is there for him). He's been doing ANBU for quite a few years and that would mess anyone up but his past coupled with ANBU is a recipe for disaster and hopelessness. There will be a few trigger warnings in the upcoming chapters so please beware!**

**Anyways! Please read & review!**

**-LittleMoonLover-**


	6. Face Off

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.

* * *

**PRESENT - Konoha**

Kakashi stood in the shower letting the water drip down his body as he leaned against the tiled wall. After twenty minutes his fingers grew pruny and he finally stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel about his waist.

He headed back into the living room of his apartment and saw a figure sitting on the couch, despite his lack of undress he headed further into the living room shaking water droplets from his hair "What do you want, Sasuke?"

The man shifted in his seat his black eyes following his former sensei's movements as the older man passed him and headed towards a dresser drawer and opened it rifling through it for clothing before turning to Sasuke and raising an eyebrow "If you don't want a show I'd suggest you'd turn around."

"Since when have you been of the modest type Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke queried but turned around anyways "So do you wear that thing even in the shower?" Sasuke called over to him as he pulled on his pants and black undershirt, the Uchiha was talking about the white cloth that he'd wrapped around his face. He didn't usually-he preferred to walk around his apartment without the face mask but he'd sensed another's presence in his apartment even in the shower and had wrapped the cloth around his face. He pulled his black mask over his face and ran the towel that had formerly been around his waist over his hair, drying it as he walked back over to the couch and tossed himself down onto it.

"So now will you tell me what you're doing here? I thought you were on a mission." Kakashi asked as Sasuke turned back around and took a seat in a nearby armchair.

"I just got back early this morning and the idiot put me on guard duty." the idiot being Naruto, Kakashi guessed with confidence. So it seemed the Hokage thought he needed a guard-that or a babysitter to make sure Kakashi didn't do anything reckless. Huh, the older man thought, it seems Hinata and Ino have broken their silence on the true extent of their relationship. That would complicate things.

"So I take it you've heard?"

"Yeah."

"Everything?"

"Yeah." Sasuke was being as monosyllabic as ever. Kakashi shifted in his seat and leaned forwards resting his chin on his hand "So how do you feel about that, Sasuke?" he was feeling dangerous and pissing off Sasuke seemed like a good enough idea. "You and Sakura were a thing for a loong time and then, poof, nothing. And then it seems like your sensei and she have a thing. I would be pissed too." Kakashi watched emotion flicker over the Uchiha's face before it slackened again.

"You're trying to make me angry Kakashi, Naruto was right-you are fucked up over this." The Uchiha leaned forwards until he was level with his former sensei "You should know better than anyone that we tried, Sakura and I. When all that shit went down a few years ago? Afterwards? It was just to two of us and it was great-for a time. But we found that we just couldn't get past the shit we experienced and did to each other when I wasn't entirely sane. You know she would have nightmares about it? Terrifying ones that seemed to continue even when she was awake," Kakashi flinched "I would try to help her but I was a part of these nightmares which made it worse and in the end, we crumbled. You probably remember it too-we couldn't even be in the same room for weeks and slowly it started to get better, you helped her and Ino and Hinata too. I couldn't and I resigned myself to it."

Kakashi looked away from the grown man sitting a crossed from him guiltily, it had been juvenile to try to poke at his weak points it was something his younger self would have done. Was Sakura experiencing this at that moment? Was his past self being rude or even cruel? At what point in time was he-snarky angry at the world seventeen? Or the seventeen year old who was world weary and ready to end it all?

Sasuke's voice brought him back out of his morbid thoughts "So yeah. I'm your watchdog to make sure you're not going to do anything stupid."

"But will you really? Because how I see it if I see a way to save Sakura i'm going to take it and the way I see it is i've got years of experience on you and I can very well take you down."

"Heh," Sasuke chuckled before leaning back in his seat "I wouldn't have it any other way old man."

* * *

**PAST - Konoha, Secret Safehouse**

_Sakura_

Sakura lay on the tatami floor staring up at the ceiling, it'd been three days since she'd been transported back to the past. She'd spent those days avoiding her surly housemate and trying to find a way to rid herself of the crippling boredom. She'd train outside-but was only allowed into the yard if Kakashi was out there watching her, something he'd pointed out several times just to annoy her.

There were no books, no television or anything of the like. She'd even been taking an inordinate amount of baths because that seemed to be the only thing she could do.

It was early morning and Sakura had been up since dawn-a habit she'd picked up as a medical ninja and she'd been staring at the ceiling for the past hour. She finally sat up to glare at the white haired boy sitting at the table reading a book which she suspected was Icha Icha Paradise but hadn't had the courage to ask. She'd read one of the books once when she was fourteen-having snuck it from Kakashi's apartment without him knowing-and it'd made her blush to no end. It probably wouldn't now that she was older and more… experienced… but she was a little surprised that even a young Kakashi still had the same reading habits.

"So. Are we just going to sit here until someone from the future figures out how to bring me back?" Sakura asked.

"Yep." Kakashi replied not looking at her, annoyance at the kid sparked and she stood.

"Can't we just go into town? I mean the odds of me running into my four year old self are really slim and if there are two eyes looking out the odds are practically none." Sakura moved to the table and sat in front of him, giving him her best puppy dog eyes.

"No." he said turning the page and Sakura glared at him before pouting.

"Please? Can you at least _ask_ Sarutobi-sama? I'm going insane here!" Sakura grabbed his shoulder and shook him, ignoring the shiver that went through her body-she'd known about it having felt it the last time she touched the older Kakashi but she was a little surprised the shock was still there with the younger Kakashi.

The Kakashi in question sighed and closed the book "If I ask will you leave me alone about it?" Sakura nodded vigorously and the boy stood and headed over to the door "Guy will be watching you again." he said and he was gone.

_Kakashi_

Kakashi left the Hokage's office twenty minutes later a little surprised, the hokage hadn't had any problems with letting Sakura out one to the town for a little while. The old man must be becoming batty, Kakashi thought as he descended the steps to the safehouse. The man's only stipulation was that she be accompanied by Kakashi and a few of his chosen shinobi.

Making his way a crossed the grass to the house he jumped onto the wooden porch and opened the sliding paper door, Sakura was sitting at the table with Guy laughing as the other teen was making ridiculous gestures-obviously in the throes of one of his favorite stories. Kakashi watched her face turn towards his and suddenly her smile was aimed towards his face, it was like being punched in the stomach. She hadn't smiled at him before, usually she would look at him as if she wanted to say something and then she would get a cloudy look on her face and turn away.

Ignoring the feeling in the pit of his stomach he headed further into the room ignoring Guy's greeting "Sarutobi says we can go." he said sitting cross legged a crossed from Sakura.

Sakura, seeming to have remembered where she was, squirmed slightly in her seat "Thank you for asking, when will we be leaving?"

"An hour." he replied gruffly before turning to Guy who was practically jumping up and down in his seat "I assume Sarutobi wants you going too, we're supposed to meet the others who he chose for guard duty or whatever upstairs in the main hall in one hour." with that he stood and went to his room.

_Sakura_

An hour later they stood in the main hall in the Hokage's compound waiting for the rest of their group to arrive, Sakura ran a sweaty palm on her black pants wondering if the people who would be in their group were people who she knew in the future.

Kakashi and Guy stood in front of her, Guy chattering to her and Kakashi standing silently next to him. Kakashi had changed into a jonin outfit, something that she was more accustomed to seeing than the grey ANBU uniform-she'd nearly teared up at seeing him in it but had been able to hold them back when she realized that he looked different in it. His shoulder's were more slender and he carried himself sharper in them whereas his older self had tended to slacken his shoulders more. Telling herself this made it easier to see the outfit.

"Oi! Kakashi!" a voice from behind Kakashi and Guy called and the two turned. Sakura tried to see over their shoulders but was unable to so she decided to peer around Guy to look at the pair who greeted them. With a little shock Sakura realized that the pair were none other than Kurenai and Asuma, they looked younger-Asuma had a toothpick in his mouth and Kurenai was still just as pretty with a winding braid swung over one shoulder.

"Asuma. Kurenai." Kakashi stated blandly.

"Long time no see," Asuma came up to them and grinned at Kakashi "We hardly ever see you anymore."

"ANBU keeps me busy." Sakura jumped with surprise, they knew Kakashi was ANBU?

Kurenai exchanged a worried look with Asuma "We've missed you." she said carefully.

"Yeah." Kakashi said "Anyways, we've got to head out."

"Who are we guarding? Dad's been so hush hush the past couple of days-it's annoying." Asume groaned.

"Sakura." Kakashi said turning to look at her "Come introduce yourself." Kakashi and Guy split apart giving Kurenai and Asuma a good look at her.

"Hello," she said waving "I'm Sakura."

"Cute!" Asuma exclaimed giving Kakashi a thumbs up before gasping as the sharp elbow of Kurenai was jabbed into his side. Kurenai smiled at her, it was odd feeling realizing that at that moment she was older than one of her old senseis. She and the other girls had idolized Kurenai because she had been beautiful and dangerous.

"So who are you to be guarded so closely by Konoha's Copy Cat Ninja?" Asuma asked, his friendly eyes becoming sharp as he examined Sakura closely.

"An ambassador from another country." Kakashi lied smoothly stepping in front of Sakura.

"Uh-huh." Asuma mused, his voice clearly saying that he didn't believe a word of it-he and Kakashi locked eyes and Sakura could practically grab the tension out of the air and swing it around.

"We should get going." Guy said stepping between the two and breaking the eye contact.

"Yes we should, this should be an easy assignment-plus I've have my eye on a pretty scarf and this is the perfect chance to buy it." Kurenai followed Guy's suit and linked her arm through Sakura's and gave her a friendly wink and the group headed out with Sakura's thoughts trying to take in everything that was happening.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**I was (thankfully) able to sit and write this chapter out all at once. I tend to get distracted super easily so it was a blessing to do so. Anywho I'm moving the plot right a long (ish) and everything should start to pick up at least on the older!Kakashi's end in the next couple of chapters. I have no clue how many chapters this fic will be but hopefully less than twenty. Also, yes I do ship SS & NH they are my OTP's but I do enjoy other ships and I enjoy writing for other ships, it keeps things interesting. Also the only way that I would accept SS not becoming canon would be if they tried and couldn't get over their past issues and ended it rather amicably. Anyways that has nothing to do with the main pairing in this fic but I just wanted to explain it a little bit. **

**There will be more information on the gang that was prevalent in the past and is causing issues in the future and why they are targeting Kakashi in question. **

**Anywho,**

**Please read & review!**

**-LittleMoonLover-**


	7. The Lonely Child

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.

* * *

**PAST - Konoha, Marketplace**

_Kakashi_

Sakura and Kurenai wandered through the marketplace together, exclaiming at the various baubles and other shiny things that they came a crossed. Kakahsi, Asuma, and Guy followed behind, keeping their distance to keep some semblance of privacy.

"Kurenai is very good at being near guard." he commented to Asuma who chuckled "Nah I think she just likes Sakura, I'm usually the one who is near guard when we do this sort of thing."

Always the pair, when they'd been younger Kakashi had used to joke that the two were going to end up married to each other which the two vehemently denied. But Kakashi watched the way his former classmate's eyes followed the beautiful girl who was chatting with Sakura and he knew somehow his hunch was right.

Kakashi's own eyes never left Sakura; he told himself that it was because she was his assignment and that was it. But he found himself becoming more curious about her-dangerously curious. He needed to keep himself separated from her before he was drawn in by her quick bright smiles and sarcastic tongue. Bad things happened when people got too close to him-he only let Guy stick around because the idiot was too stupid to get hurt.

"So cut the bullshit Kakashi, who is this girl really?" Asuma turned to Kakashi with a serious face.

Kakashi sighed, Sarutobi should have known better than to send his overly curious son to guard the secret time traveling girl. "Ask your father, thats all I can tell you." he rolled his eyes and pushed ahead of Asuma to rejoin Sakura and Kurenai.

Sakura turned to him with excited eyes "Can we get some books? It'll help with the boredom." she had three in her arms, Kakashi hadn't really gotten bored while at the safehouse-he was used to long assignments where not much happened, those were usually the bloodiest in the end anyways. Plus he'd had his own books to read.

"Yeah." Kakashi replied, the Hokage had given him a small wallet full of money in case "Get what you want Haruno." he said before turning to head back to Asuma and Guy.

"Haruno again?" Sakura's voice came from behind him, "I thought we'd gotten past that back at the compound when you introduced me." she placed a hand on his shoulder and turned him to face her "Call me Sa-ku-ra." she wagged a finger in front of his face.

"Yeah, yeah, alright Sakura, got it. Can I go now?" Kakashi asked, a little flustered as he heard Kurenai giggle from behind them.

"Yes you may." Sakura said tilting her chin upwards, Kakashi handed her the wallet and retreated back to stand with Guy and Asuma. Asuma chuckled at him "Couldn't take the heat huh? She sure is something."

Kakashi didn't reply.

* * *

_Sakura_

Sakura paid for five books and swung the bag with satisfaction as they headed away from the book stall. "You sure made Kakashi speechless, good for you." Kurenai said still giggling.

"Yeah well he isn't the easiest person to get along with." Sakura huffed as they entered another stall so Kurenai could purchase the scarf that she'd been eyeing-it was a pretty red silk scarf that made her red eyes look like sparkling rubies.

"Theres more to it than that." Kurenai said slowly "He hasn't had the greatest life."

"I know." Sakura said more to herself than anything.

"Really? He told you?" Kurenai sounded surprised.

Shit, Sakura thought as she tried to find a plausible reply "No I just figured, someone with a chip that big on their shoulder has to have had a lot of things happen to them in their lifetime…"

Kurenai didn't look convinced but she let it slide and Sakura sighed with relief as she was tugged into yet another shop.

* * *

_Kakashi_

Fifteen minutes later the girls didn't show any signs of slowing down and Guy and Asuma were exchanging good natured quips at this moment in time, Kakashi was beginning to get a headache.

"Hey can you take over for a bit? Theres something I have to pick up." Kakashi turned to Asuma and Guy who nodded.

"Sure go ahead." Asuma said and Kakashi was gone.

* * *

_Asuma_

Once Sakura finally had had her fill of shopping she turned to Kurenai who smiled when their eyes met, Asuma however was not smiling. Having been saddled with most of the bags he glared at the two girls who were chattering and laughing together as they walked.

"Asuma!" Guy exclaimed holding a hand out to Asuma "Hand me those bags I will look at it as a training exercise."

Asuma didn't protest and soon Guy was hefting the bags like weights, Asuma shook his head-this guy was nuts.

He turned back to the girls who had gotten ahead of them again before grinning to himself, he was glad that Kurenai at least had another female to talk to. Being a shinobi and a woman was hard enough-there weren't too many and normal women didn't have as much to talk about with them. And on top of that Kurenai was gorgeous, something the other female shinobi couldn't quite get over. Needless to say Kurenai spent most of her time with male company (mostly him, he admitted to himself) and Asuma spent most of his time warding off any men who thought they could take advantage of his childhood friend.

But Asuma just couldn't get over how odd this woman was, when they'd first met a look of recognition had flashed in the pink haired woman's eyes at the sight of them. It was as if she had known them from somewhere. She wasn't just some spoiled princess from another country-there was something unsettling about her and he could have sworn that he'd seen that forehead diamond somewhere else…

"Sale!" came a sudden cry bringing him out of his thoughts "Sale on fish and other meats-forty percent off!" a nearby fish merchant was yelling into a microphone so everyone in the market could hear.

"Shit!" Asuma swore as he heard the sound of stomping feet. A mob of people swirled around him pushing him backwards, if they hadn't been civilians he would have used his wind release to push them back. "Guy!" he called "Do you have a visual of them?"

"No!" the bowl-headed youth called back and soon they were pushed to the edge of the crowd at the entrance to the market place.

"Get on one of these buildings and see if you can get a visual i'm going to try to find Kurenai and Sakura."

Guy saluted him and jumped onto the nearest roof. The swelling crowd forced Asuma to skirt around and try to find Kurenai's dark hair and Sakura's pink in a swarm of people yelling what type of meat they wanted.

After fifteen minutes he had all but given up when a hand on his shoulder made him jump, Kurenai stood behind him with a troubled look.

"I was looking for you, where is Sakura?" Asuma asked as if Kurenai could conjure her out of thin air.

"Errr… we sort of got separated and I can't find her."

"Shit." Asuma cursed, his dad was going to be pissed. Hell, _Kakashi _was going to be pissed.

* * *

_Sakura_

This was ridiculous, Sakura thought as she wandered through the streets, how did she get lost in a village that she grew up in! After having been separated by a raging crowd of avid shoppers and pretty much thrown into an alley, she'd tried to get back into the crowd and back to Kurenai but the shoppers had been like a brick wall. So she figured if she just went through the alley and circled back around she'd make it back to the market place. Which was, in hindsight, not a very good plan. Now she was ridiculously lost and wandering through the city with no money or clue as to where she was going.

"You screwed up." she muttered to herself, they were never going to let her out again after this. She ran a hand through her long pink hair as she reached a copse of trees that lined a residential district of the village, she stepped onto the grass just in time to see a young dark haired man tug a small child out of the trees.

"Come Hinata-sama." he pulled on her arm as she dug her heels in.

"B-but he was helping me!" the little girl protested as the man continued to pull her away.

After they had gone the sound of kicking and punching filled the air followed by small grunts, Sakura's feet moved on their own and she hurried towards the noise. The sight that greeted her made her gasp, three little boys were beating up a smaller blond boy who was alarmingly familiar.

"Hey!" she shouted and stomped towards them, grabbing the nearest one by the collar "Why don't you pick on someone your own size you little bullies."

The one she grabbed yelled and twisted from her grasp "We don't have to listen to you, you old hag!" he stuck his tongue out at her and Sakura's temper snapped.

She sent them away with bumps on their head and a kick in the pants, they howled about getting their older brothers to come fight her. "Go ahead I can take em' be sure of that!" her inner self howled with pleasure as she turned back to to kid on the ground.

Naruto… she thought to herself as she watched him sit up with a groan, his face was bleeding and it looked as if his nose was broken. "Sit still." she ordered, as she pressed glowing green hands to his face-healing his bruises and he sat silently while she did. In the future she could almost forget about Naruto's childhood, he was so happy being Hokage and he had Hinata and soon they'd have their own child. But his beginning was a sad one of loneliness and her young self hadn't done anything to ease that.

"Are you alright?" she asked reached out to him but he swatted her hand away.

"Why are you helping me?" Naruto asked sullenly looking at her with big blue eyes and her heart broke a little for him.

"Because you looked like you needed it. Plus no kids should bully another kid." she smiled kindly at him.

"You should probably go, people aren't supposed to talk to me." the boy stood and dusted himself off.

"Why not?" Sakura asked, still kneeling in front of him and they were now eye level.

"Cause'." was all he said "You must be new or else you'd know that no body wants to speak with me or let others speak to me."

"Even if I knew I'd still talk to you. Because you look like you could use a friend right now." Sakura smiled.

"And you'd be my friend?" Naruto said with his voice still holding a level of distrust.

"Yup!" Sakura nodded and Naruto's demeanor changed, he grinned a big cheesy grin that in twelve years would look rakish and held his hand out to her.

"I'm Naruto!" he said holding his hand out to her.

"And I'm…" Sakura paused, had she met Naruto yet? They'd gone to school together so it was likely "... Hana!"

"Nice to meet'ya!" Naruto ran a finger under his nose as he grinned "In thanks for helping me out I'll treat you to ramen!"

"No… thats oka-" she began but her stomach grumbled loudly causing Naruto burst in a fit of uncontrollable laughter as Sakura blushed.

"C'mon. I know a good place." Naruto grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet before dragging her a long after him.

A few minutes later they reached Ichiraku's ramen place Sakura smiled inwardly, she'd had a hunch that he was bringing her here. They ducked under the canopy and took a seat on the stools within (Naruto adorably climbing onto his own with visible difficulty.)

"Well, well Naruto who is this?" A visibly younger Teuchi asked from behind the counter.

"Hana." Naruto said proudly "My girlfriend!"

"Hold on! Wait a second don't just decide that for yourself!" Sakura protested, same old Naruto, she thought to herself as Teuchi laughed.

"Welcome, welcome." Teuchi said "What'll it be!"

They ordered and tucked into their food, Sakura normally didn't eat ramen-it didn't appeal to her as much as it did Naruto but she was relishing in the taste.

"So you helped that little girl right?" Sakura asked as she watched Naruto slurp his noodles.

"Uh-huh. She gets bullied like me even though she's a Hyuuga. She's weird." he replied with a shrug.

Well thats your future wife bucko, Sakura thought with a knowing smile. "She can't be that bad."

Naruto thought for a moment before shrugging "Nah she's fine, she's one of the only people who doesn't look at me like i'm gonna explode. She's just quiet is all."

"Well be nice to her-you hear? She could save your life one day." Sakura couldn't help but add-it didn't matter what she said if everything would be reversed when she was sent back to the future.

"Okay!" Naruto said with a bright smile and he opened his mouth to say something else but a figure ducked under the canopy and cut him off.

"Haruno." came Kakashi's cold voice and she whirled around, the white haired teen was glaring at her and she jumped guiltily as she noticed that it was dark outside. Kakashi's eye moved to Naruto and widened slightly and Sakura gasped a little bit as pain filled Kakashi's gaze so acutely that she slid off the stool and moved towards him, Kakashi moved away from her and outside "I'll be out here." he said without looking back.

"Naruto i'm sorry but I have to go." she said turning back to Naruto who pouted "Will I ever see you again?" tears filled the little boys eyes and her heart cracked a little more again.

"No… I'm sorry… but let me tell you a little secret, if you look for a little girl named Haruno Sakura you'll find a friend for life. Also don't forget about Hyuga Hinata-you hear? She's very important." on impulse Sakura leaned forward and kissed Naruto's forehead "Goodbye, Naruto." she said gently and turned to leave.

As soon as she was outside Kakashi began to walk without saying a word to her, forcing her to follow behind. "I'm sorry…" she began "I didn't mean to get separated and lost…"

"You put yourself in danger and the future." was all he said.

"And I'm sorry for that… hey will you talk to me?" she grabbed his shoulder and he whirled around anger sparking in his eyes.

"Why were you with him? Huh?" Kakashi asked wildly and Sakura took a step back "Why him? Do you know him? In the future? Who else do you know? Asuma? Kurenai? You sure as hell seem to know me! What am I to you and why do you constantly look at me like you're expecting something from me!"

Sakura was taken aback by the anger that seeped from Kakashi, the hurt that rolled off of him in waves was something that paralleled Sasuke when he'd been in full-avenger mode. This Kakashi was so different from the future Kakashi but Sakura hadn't realized just how much, he was like an open wound that hadn't been stanched in a long time and it just seeped blood. No one had so much as put a band aid on him-instead they'd just thrown him back into battle without any thought for his well being. Sakura bit her lower lip, how bad would it be to tell him? If everything was going to be reversed when she was sent back why did it matter?

"You're… you're my important person." Sakura said looking down at her feet, a blush filling her cheeks.

Kakashi looked at her for a moment "Bullshit." he said in a straightforward voice "I would never… not after-"

"Rin?" Sakura put in and Kakashi reeled backwards as if she'd struck him. "You've told me about her…"

Kakashi was silent for a moment "Yeah I told myself that I wouldn't find someone else after that." he turned to walk a way with a small chuckle "Good try though."

Anger filled Sakura, how dare he make small of her basic confession-something she hadn't even told the future Kakashi. "It's true!" she growled as she hurried to catch up with him.

"Yeah, yeah whatever you say-" she grabbed his hand and yanked him around, tugging his mask down with her other hand and tugging him down until his lips met hers. The same sparks that had flown in the future flew just as brightly at that moment. After a moment she pulled away and tugged his mask back into place.

"What was that you were saying?" she quipped before turning and stomping away from him and back into the general direction of the Hokage's compound.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Well, well now we're getting somewhere! I couldn't help but add baby Naruto into the mix, sorry if that bothered anyone. Also I know this chapter came out a lot faster than usual but I had some inspiration last night after I published Chapter 6 and I thought I'd just bang out another one. You'll be seeing future Kakashi the super sleuth in the next chapter and you should find out just who the heck this gang is and why they wanted Kakashi gone.**

**Anywho,**

**Please read & review!**

**-LittleMoonLover-**


	8. The ANBU Archives

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.

* * *

**PRESENT - Konoha, Hokage's Compound**

_Kakashi_

Kakashi flipped through another useless journal and shoved it away from him with a groan, "This is useless." he growled standing "We've been doing this for three days and there aren't any records that are similar to the men we saw."

"Shouldn't you know who they are?" Sasuke queried from his seat, he was sitting next to Naruto and Hinata who were going through old files.

"They were familiar." Kakashi ran a hand through his hair "But I made a lot of enemies when I was younger I can't actually pinpoint which gang these guys are from." Kakashi let that sink in with them, he'd done a lot of dirty work as an ANBU operative that he wasn't proud of and truthfully he had put most of those memories deep inside himself, telling himself that he would never revisit them ever again.

"Well we're not getting anywhere with this." Naruto tossed a file back into it's dusty box "So you need to think a little harder-"

"I am thinking harder!" Kakashi slammed his palms down onto the table causing everyone in the room except for Sasuke to jump.

There was silence for a moment before Sasuke piped up "... what about the ANBU files? Have you checked those yet?"

"ANBU files? We don't keep those-hence the whole secret operatives unit." Naruto looked at his best friend like he was an idiot.

Kakashi locked eyes with Sasuke, who Kakashi knew was an ANBU operative, he'd caught sight of the tattoo the previous year. "They haven't told you about them…?" Kakashi asked slowly in amazement, that was one of the top secret things that all the hokage's were briefed on once they took leadership. The leader of the ANBU would pay a visit to the Hokage and inform him of all of the operatives.

Naruto cursed under his breath "No. They haven't, I don't even know who half the ANBU are-I thought that was just the way it was done."

"The ANBU leader should have paid you a visit last year when you became Hokage." Kakashi's gears were turning "Theres an entire archive for it-all of my mission files for the time I was in ANBU should be there."

"Well… who is the ANBU leader anyways?" Naruto mused to himself looking at Sasuke who chuckled. "Got something to sat Sasuke?" Naruto narrowed his eyes at his best friend.

"The person you are looking for happens to be none other than Ino Yamanaka." Kakashi felt his eyebrows shoot towards his hairline, the Yamanaka girl was the leader of one of the most secretive operations in Konoha's known history?

Naruto burst into laughter which lasted for about a minute before he wiped a tear from his eye "Please forgive me if I don't believe you teme. Ino being the leader of ANBU? Thats laughable."

Sasuke looked a little irritated "It's true dobe. Ask your wife she'd know she's ANBU too."

All eyes turned to the Hyuga who had been overly silent during the entire exchange. "...Hinata?" Naruto looked a little shell shocked as he turned to his wife.

Hinata blushed and looked down at her hands "I'm sorry for not telling you Naruto… Ino told me not to-she said it'd be easier to protect you if you were blissfully unaware of us."

Kakashi scoffed, it seemed like Ino ran ANBU differently than any of her predecessors had "Would you mind discussing this later? I need to see my ANBU files."

"I have to consult Ino before I can take you to the archive…" Hinata told him while not looking at Naruto. "Do you really think that this gang is after because of an ANBU mission that you carried out fifteen years ago? ANBU missions don't deal with things other than protecting the hokage…" she trailed off.

Kakashi chuckled darkly "You would be surprised what ANBU operative were made to do back when I was active. We were more than just the hokage's secret body guards. Get permission to go to the archives Hyuga-san before I'm forced to break in myself." he turned and strode from the room with Sasuke on his heels.

* * *

_Hinata_

Hinata ignored her husbands confused looks as she strode down the hall of the Hokage's compound. He'd been shooting her these sorts of looks ever since they'd left the conference room to find Ino and quite frankly it was wearing on her nerves.

"Naruto!" she finally snapped turning towards her husband "I love you, but you must drop this-at least for now. There are more prevalent issues we need to deal with. I'll tell you everything later but for now we need to find Ino." Hinata pressed a quick kiss onto his mouth before continuing down the hall.

"Yeah alright." Naruto said, sounding a little glum but he slid his hand through hers anyways. Fifteen minutes later she caught sight of the blond woman who was talking with a few other operative, giving orders and looking over a file.

"Ino!" Hinata called and the woman turned to wave at them, smiling brightly, Naruto didn't smile back and Ino looked between the two and Hinata bit her lip and Ino sighed "It seems like the cats out of the bag huh?" she asked and Naruto nodded.

"We need to get into the archive to look at Kakashi's file." Naruto ordered.

Ino looked a little perturbed "You think this had something to do with when Kakashi was in ANBU?"

"Possibly." Naruto nodded and Ino sighed "Are you sure you want to look at any files from that time? ANBU was bloody back then almost no one got out without getting their hands dirty and Kakashi is no exception."

"You've seen his file before?" Hinata asked with surprise.

"Yeah I glanced over it after I became head of ANBU, it's one of the reasons I was so vehemently against Sakura getting involved with him-his files is one of the bloodiest i've ever seen." Hinata bit her lip remembering Ino's sharp words on the day that Sakura told them about her burgeoning feelings for the older man and how Sakura and she hadn't spoken for days afterwards.

"Well we had better go look at it then." Ino turned and began to walk down the hall.

"Where is the archive anyways?" Naruto whispered to Hinata as they headed further into the compound.

"In the basement." Hinata informed him and he snorted "Of course. Nothing good ever happens in the basement of this place. When this is all over you two are going to tell me everything I need to know. No more coddling me." the two women didn't answer but the silence was all the affirmation that he needed.

They descended steps that led into the depths of the basement and began to wind down a maze-like series of tunnels until they reached a large door that had a series of complicated chakra locks. Leaning against one wall was Kakashi and on the other was Sasuke.

"Glad to see you waited." Ino said coldly as she passed Kakashi without a second glance.

"Of course, I wouldn't want to incinerate all the files if I screwed up the chakra sequence to open the doors now would I?"

Ino ignored the quip "Sasuke. Hinata." she tonelessly ordered the two and they stepped up next to her, holding their palms out in front of them.

Silence filled the hallway and Hinata concentrated on her palms, the lock sequence was complicated and she couldn't mess it up or else it could ruin all the files within. Sasuke and Ino had similar looks of concentration on their face and Hinata could see the thinly condensed thread of chakra shooting from their palms and into a corresponding hole on the door with her byakugan. Her own thread entered the hole and spread out through the many tracks that would lead her to the locking mechanism on the door, as the chakra thread passed certain points knobs on the door began to turn and soon enough they'd all reached the three pronged main locking mechanism that would require them to open it simultaneously.

"On the count of three," Ino grunted "One… two… three!" they pushed forwards with their chakra and the lock opened with a resounding click. The heavy door swung open.

* * *

_Kakashi_

Kakashi had only been to the archives once in his lifetime and that had been at the end of his ANBU career-they'd taken him down there to sign confidentiality document that stated if he revealed any information to the populace that he would never be seen again. The room was completely dark until Ino flipped a switch bathing the room in a golden light, six long bookshelves stood in the room lined with cardboard filing boxes.

"All of you, sit." Ino ordered "I am the only one authorized to grab Kakashi's file-don't touch anything I'll be right back." with that she disappeared among the shelves.

Kakashi threw himself down into a metal chair a crossed from Sasuke, Hinata and Naruto were talking to each other quietly, throwing covert looks his way every few minutes. Kakashi himself was preparing to read through all of his mission files, his past was something that he wanted to forget but it always seemed to come back to bite him in the worst ways.

It took Ino a few minutes to locate the file, she came back hefting a file box that she placed in the middle of the table. The box was sealed, scrawling black marks lined it.

"It's a blood seal." Ino explained, Kakashi already knew what it was-he'd helped put it in place when he left the ANBU.

"The current leader of ANBU and the operative whose closed file this is must prick a finger and undo the seal." Kakashi finished for her, already whipping out a kunai and pricking his finger before handing it over to Ino and she did the same.

They pressed their thumbs onto the black seal which retracted until all that was left were two fading black dots where their thumbs had been.

"Would you like to do the honors?" Ino joked darkly as she slid the box over to him.

Kakashi ran a hand over the cardboard surface before lifting the lid and peering inside, a large stack of manila folders lay neatly inside and he picked one up. There was a date at the top of the folder in clear black ink, flipping it open he was greeted with a mission summary-he flipped past that and to his own statement which was hastily scrawled in his familiar chicken scratch writing.

"Theres so many!" Hinata exclaimed as she doled them out to Sasuke and Naruto who were seated.

"Yeah." Kakashi said more to himself than anyone.

"We can probably rule out a couple of these… we know we're dealing with a gang of some sorts."

"I have the sketch of the gang tattoo off of the dead ninja." Naruto piped up and dug into his pocket for a moment before pulling out a folded piece of paper and smoothing it open.

Kakashi stared at the drawing for a moment, this was different from the tattoo he'd seen "Naruto this isn't the tattoo that we saw."

"No it's not, I thought so too at first but the medical ninja hadn't shown us the entire tattoo apparently because it was too big."

The circle was still there, and the odd symbol within it too-but now it was surrounded by a lion's head. Recognition clicked within Kakashi as his memories flew back to fifteen years ago.

"I know who these people are." he grabbed the files from the others and began to flip through them quickly until he found what he was looking for he laid the file flat on the table and spread out the document until he reached the sketch he'd made over fifteen years ago and held it up to the sketch from the dead ninja. They matched.

"Shit." he muttered.

"What?" Ino asked as she read the file over his shoulder.

"I know why they are targeting me."

"Why?" Naruto asked as he tried to get a good look at the file himself.

"Because fifteen years ago I almost single handedly massacred their gang on order from the Hokage."

* * *

**Author's Note: **

**Dun dun dunn! Or something like that! **

**Please read & review!**

**-LittleMoonLover-**


	9. Understanding

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.

* * *

**PAST - Konoha, Secret Safehouse**

_Kakashi_

Two days had passed since the disastrous trip to the marketplace, he and the rest of the group had been scolded soundly by Sarutobi and then Sarutobi placed Sakura back under lockdown. Sakura hadn't spoken to him since that night-he would make their meals and she would eat in stony silence before excusing herself and heading back into her room. It was frustrating. Conflicting feelings warred inside of Kakashi and he would lie awake at night thinking about the kiss and her anger towards him. It wasn't his fault that she had feelings for him, was it? Then he reminded himself that the Kakashi that she had feelings for was an entirely different person and that would make him angrier. He shouldn't have to deal with this sort of thing-his emotions were supposed to be tamped down tight not blazing to the surface.

He jumped down from his perch in a nearby tree and headed back to the house and slid open the front door, Sakura was standing in the middle of the room it looked as if she had been heading towards the kitchen but as soon as she caught sight of him she turned on her heel and began to head back towards her room but Kakashi crossed the floor and grabbed her arm, whirling her around.

"How long are you going to avoid me?" he demanded, his temper getting the better of him. Sakura yanked her arm from his grasp with surprising strength "Until I go back to my own time."

"Thats-" Kakashi didn't exactly know what that was, "Thats idiotic." he finished succinctly feeling like a dolt. He'd always told himself that he wasn't going to get too close to anyone let alone be attracted to someone again. It brought too much pain in the end, but he took one look at the spark of anger in the pink haired woman's eyes and it was slowly making him forget his resolve.

"It's not. I can't wait till I can go back to a time when you're not such an idiot." she thought about that for a moment "Oh wait, I forgot you're still an idiot in the future too. Just a different kind!" she turned and stomped away, her hair flipping and hitting him in the face as she did so. Kakashi followed after her but she hurried down the hall to the bathing room and stepped inside.

"Do. Not. Follow. Me. I'm bathing!" she shouted and slid the door shut with a bang. Kakashi turned and headed back down the hall, confusion-she said she liked him so why was she yelling at him?

* * *

_Sakura_

Sakura sank down into the hot water of the bath and inhaled the calming mineral scent before leaning back against the craggy wall and closing her eyes. The last days had been torture, she was mortified by the way she'd acted that night even if she didn't regret it one bit. Kissing the younger Kakashi was an experience that she wouldn't forget anytime soon, his lips had felt electric on her own-her annoyance with him had turned into heat. She'd felt powerful as she'd stomped away from him but that soon faded into 'I can't believe I just did that'.

She shouldn't have expected anything else this Kakashi didn't know who she was or what she was like-he hadn't known her for almost seven years nor had he fought side-by-side with her. She dunked herself and washed the soap from her hair and got out of the bath. Fifteen minutes she had glumly toweled herself off and dressed in fresh clothes wishing for what seemed like the thousandth time that she could do something, anything, to get back to her own time-it seemed easier to deal with the situation with the older Kakashi than that of the one with the younger Kakashi.

Sakura opened the bathroom door and made a noise of surprise, Kakashi was sitting on the floor leaning against the wall. He turned to look at her and Sakura marveled at the lack of laugh lines around his eyes-lines that were ever present with his older self. She cleared her throat "Were you there the entire time?"

Kakashi stood "Yeah."

"... Why?" she asked slowly keeping her distance as she skirted around him.

"I want you to tell me about my future self."

"I can't. I'm under orders not to-" but he cut her off.

"I don't care about your orders-I need to know. Plus it's not like you follow orders anyways."

Sakura's annoyance sparked and she turned to walk away "Please." he said from behind her and she cursed under her breath, how much harm would it cause if she did tell him-it's not like he would remember it when she went back to the future and everything was reset. She sighed as she realized the futility of time travel, even if you wanted to help someone it wouldn't be permanent unless they died. It was a good and bad thing.

"Fine, I'll tell you." she finally agreed with a sigh "Lets go talk on the front porch."

Heading back through the main room and to the front porch she sat down and let her legs dangle and Kakashi sat down next to her so close that their arms brushed. "Where do you want me to start?"

"From where you and I first met."

Sakura sighed and nodded "I first met you when I was twelve years old. I was one of your students."

"You were my student?!" Kakashi balked but a look from Sakura silenced him.

"I was on a team with Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha." she let the white haired teen mull that over for a moment, "Anyways we were with you until the Chunin exams and then Naruto and Sasuke left."

"Left?" Kakashi questioned it wasn't traditional for students to leave that early.

"To train…" Sakura said carefully, should she tell him about Sasuke and the Uchiha massacre? No. She decided that was too easily fixed with the death of Itachi and as much as she wished she could change it she didn't dare try. "With different masters Naruto with Jiraiya and Sasuke with someone who I don't know."

"And what about you?"

"I stayed." Sakura shrugged "I trained with Tsunade-the first's granddaughter and one of the legendary Sanin to be a medical ninja."

"And the whole attraction to my older self did that happen during this time?"

Sakura snorted "No that happened sometime this past year-after I became an adult." she added just for emphasis.

"And have we been… intimate?" he blushed one the last word and Sakura almost chuckled-looks as if someone hasn't lost their virginity.

"Yeah. We have." she didn't give away that they'd only had sex once.

"I'm a perverted old man aren't I?" Kakashi groaned.

"Yup." Sakura said before laughing "But you're also one of the greatest men I've ever met. And I've met a lot of great men. You're kind and you put others before yourself, you're good natured and always put others before yourself." she stared off into the trees smiling to herself as she thought about all the times Kakashi had helped her and made her feel important when she felt like crap.

"Is that why you like me?" Kakashi asked and somehow his fingers hand snaked over to hers without either of them realizing it.

"Yes!" Sakura turned to smile at him and his eye crinkled in what she realized was him returning her smile-she hadn't seen him smile at all ever since she'd arrived. Maybe that was was why she was having so much trouble connecting the two as one person, her heart sped up as she watched his smile fade a little bit but his features softened right before her eyes and he opened up to her just a little bit-letting the hardened bitter shell that he'd covered himself with crack just a little bit.

"I guess I'm pretty different from him, huh?" Kakashi asked after a few moments, looking away.

"Yeah, I won't tell you any different." she admitted, deciding not to lie to him "But I do see him in you-you'll get there."

His fingers slid through hers and she looked down at them, his hands were just as calloused as his older self but the fingers felt more hesitant and she squeezed them lightly. "I can't kiss you again." she finally sighed.

"Can I ask why?" Kakashi looked a little perturbed.

"I'm too old for you." Among other things, she thought to herself, things were beginning to get complicated.

"Age is just a number." Kakashi said with a deadpan look and Sakura began to laugh.

"Tell that to your future self." she snorted but was cut off by him gently pressing his own lips to hers, she could feel the heat of his breath through his mask and he pulled away too soon for her liking. His kiss had been clumsy and inexperienced-something she shouldn't have enjoyed, but she had. She looked down at her hands as her thoughts jumbled into a tangled mess.

Kakashi slid off the porch "I'll be back in a little bit," his voice was gentle and she nodded "Kurenai should be here to look after you-she's a better cook than I am. We'll talk more after I get back."

Sakura looked up at him and smiled weakly, her previous annoyance at him gone-replaced by a mass of confused feelings and things to think about. She watched Kakashi go and five minutes later Kurenai showed up with Asuma and Guy in tow and a deck of cards, distracting Sakura from her more jumbled thoughts.

* * *

**PAST - Hokage's Office**

_Sarutobi_

Sarutobi tossed the file away from him with a grunt of frustration, "This gang is getting too close to Konoha for my liking." the _Karasu_-or crow-had been a thorn in his side for more than three months, pillaging and burning villages all around the countryside of the land of fire-he'd sent several teams to try and investigate but the bastards were elusive.

"We need to strike and strike hard." one of his advisors piped up "This scum needs to be wiped out before they can cause any more bloodshed."

"You realize that that would be a massacre, correct?" argued one of the more peaceable advisors.

"Enough." Sarutobi held up a hand silencing the bickering men. Sighing he pulled out his pen to sign a mission file that he'd been handed.

"I'm authorizing an ANBU mission, Izuka who from your ranks do you think would be best suited to carry out this mission?" he turned to look at the masked man who was standing against the wall, Izuka had the most experience among the ANBU and scars to back it up.

"I recommend Hatake Kakashi." the ANBU leader said automatically "Along with a few others but I recommend him being the squad leader on this assignment."

"Hatake is already on an assignment…" Sarutobi bit his thumb.

"I would suggest having someone fill in for him then because I've never seen a more meticulous young man, he executes missions and directives without question."

Sarutobi frowned, he hated ordering his ANBU or even his shinobi to kill. It brought him no joy. But this problem needed to be dealt with.

"Do it."

* * *

**Author's Note: **

**Hello its been a few days since my last update and quite a bit happened in this chapter! The Past!Kakashi and Sakura have come to a sort-of understanding. I say sort-of very lightly and should not be held accountable for the angst in the next few chapters. **

**Anyways**

**Please read & review!**

**-LittleMoonLover-**


	10. Blood

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.

* * *

**PAST - Konoha, Secret Safehouse**

_Sakura_

"Sakura you're staring off into space again, are you feeling alright?" Kurenai's voice brought Sakura back to the present and she shook off the dazed feeling and smiled reassuringly at the girl who was sitting next to her at the low table. Cards were strewn about on the glossy dark surface-they'd been playing different card games to keep themselves and the only one who'd consistently been losing was Guy who was currently challenging Asuma to their fifty-third game of speed.

"I'm fine." Sakura quickly replied hoping to put her new friend at ease before standing and heading over to the open door to sit on the porch where only five hours before she'd sat and talked with the man who in the future would be her special someone and had actually enjoyed herself. It was almost a surreal feeling.

Kurenai sat next to her and let her legs swing idly as she stared up at the little circle of stars that could be seen overhead. "Wanna talk about it?" she asked and Sakura smiled, she and Kurenai had become fast friends-she didn't know whether or not it was because they'd been around each other for more than five minutes or the fact that Kurenai didn't have very many female friends in her younger years.

"No… I don't know… I'm a big ball of confusion." she admitted and Kurenai opened her mouth to say something but Asuma stepped onto the porch and stuck a clove cigarette in between his lips, Guy could be heard inside challenging Asuma to another match but the younger man ignored him.

Kurenai made a noise of disgust "Those things'll kill you-you do know that." she chided him and stood, whipping it out of his mouth. Sakura smiled inwardly before turning to look up at the bickering couple, before Asuma had died everyone had always made bets on when the two senseis would get together-since they were seemingly perfect for one another. But little did they know that the two had been together for a lot longer than any of them had ever thought. Their relationship was personified in their daughter Fumie.

"Yeah I know that, better they kill me than something else." the teenage boy replied gruffly as he stared off into the darkness, suddenly he made a surprised noise "Kurenai. Get Sakura into the house."

Kurenai didn't ask questions she began to drag Sakura up from her seated position but Sakura caught a glimpse at just what had set Asuma on edge.

Standing near the tree line was a young white haired boy, the light from the house illuminated his stark features-but something was off about him, something about his disappearance didn't seem right. Then she saw the red tinge that covered seemingly his entire body. Kakashi stood in the darkness covered from head to toe in blood.

* * *

**PRESENT - Konoha, ANBU Archives**

_Kakashi_

"The third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, pulled me into his office one day and asked me to lead an ANBU squad to eradicate a gang that had been burning and pillaging villages all a crossed the land of fire. They were getting to close to Konoha and it was making him nervous." Kakashi began, ignoring all of the looks of shock on his peer's faces.

"They were called the Karasu-or the crows-they were undetectable to the normal operative and even to most ANBU were having trouble. It was decided that the only way to take them down was to catch them in the act of pillaging a village. One of our best strategy ANBU was able to pinpoint what village they would attack next and it was a stroke of luck that we were able to get the right time…

"Anways, I led a team out and we began to systematically take them down. But we all began to notice that not all of these… these gang members were adults. Many of them were young men-boys even. Some were even younger than I was at the time."

"Which was how old?" Hinata asked gently.

"Seventeen." Kakashi replied emotionlessly, everyone sat up a little straighter in shock "You are all surprised for people who were neck deep in a war when they were seventeen."

"So you noticed the younger members of the gang, surely that dissuaded you from carrying out the mission." Ino demanded her hands gripping together.

"ANBU was different back then. Back then orders were orders-if you disobeyed you were never seen again." Hinata gasped into her hands and Naruto placed an arm around her shoulders.

"I wasn't as thorough with them as a could have been," Kakashi admitted "The little ones I could bring myself to… anyways some of them must have gotten away and formed the new Karasu." Kakashi finished his eyes widening a little bit as his memories roared to the surface of that bloody night.

"But why are they targeting you in particular?" Sasuke asked leaning on his steepled fingers, a habit he'd picked up when he was younger.

"Because I killed their leader, If I didn't exist their leader would still be alive." Kakashi shrugged his shoulders up and down once.

"Many of these gangs start the kids out young." Naruto said gravely "So that they can look upon the leader of the gang as an almost father figure-someone who they view as their savior. It's a tactic to gain unerring loyalty."

"They think that they can bring their leader back by making sure Kakashi didn't exist." Kiba stated as he glared at the file in Kakashi's hand.

"But why send him back fifteen years?" Ino asked "Why not send him all the way back to when he was born?"

"I think I might know the answer to that." Hinata piped up and everyone turned to look at her "Well I've been going over all of the documents that mention time-travel jutsus and the like with Shikamaru-san, and I think I have a fairly firm grasp on it.

"Time travel is-in essence-one of the most delicate jutsus that I've ever seen. It has to be specially calibrated or else it has the potential to go haywire."

"So when Sakura pushed me out of the way she threw the calibrations off and it sent her back only partially in time instead of all the way?" Kakashi asked and Hinata nodded.

"Is there any way to pull her back from fifteen years ago?" Sasuke stood and pushed his chair in, Ino did the same signalling that it was time to head back topside.

"You'd have to ask Shikamaru for sure but I don't think so-at least not without the exact calibrations from the original jutsu, altered slightly to fit Sakura's parameters. And those lie with the Karasu." Hinata frowned her apology.

"Then we need to find this gang and we need to find them fast." Naruto proclaimed, determination flaming in his eyes.

Kakashi sighed and put his folder back into it's box-he needed to find a way to get away from them. He was tired of putting those he cared about in danger and he had an idea of where the Karasu might be…

* * *

**PAST - Konoha, Secret Safehouse**

_Sakura_

"Kakashi!" Sakura exclaimed, shaking free of Kurenai's iron grip and launching herself off of the porch and running to him. He stood catatonically and when she reached him he stared past her into nothingness.

"Are you hurt?" she demanded as her fingers ran over his arms, checking for injury-she found a couple of scratches and cuts but nothing that would warrant this amount of blood.

"It's not mine." he mumbled emotionlessly and Sakura's chest seized up. He was wearing his ANBU gear, though she barely recognized it since it was caked with blood, and his ANBU cat mask dangled from his fingers. Realization dawned on Sakura, he'd just been on a mission.

Kurenai, Guy and Asuma stood behind her silently and she stared into Kakashi's dazed looking eyes-he looked impossibly young like a confused child.

"Make them go away." he whispered to her and she around and looked at them "Please leave."

"But we can't leave you alone with him-" She cut Asuma off "Leave now!" and they shuffled quickly past them, she could hear Kurenai whispering angrily to Asuma about going to talk with his father.

After they'd left she turned to look at Kakashi who hadn't moved and gently grabbed his hands "Lets go inside." she told him softly and he allowed her to pull her up onto the porch and into the house, but his knees shook in the main room and gave out and he slid down. Sakura went with him and he gripped her sweater and wouldn't look at her.

"Kakashi?" she asked but she could feel his shoulder wracking in violent sobs as he pressed his forehead to her chest. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her cheek to his red tinged hair as he cried, tears stinging her own eyes as she rocked them.

Kakashi in the future never talked about his time in the ANBU black ops, it was something that she knew never to ask about-the only time she ever had was when she was eighteen and had been offered a position on the black ops. Kakashi reacted to violently when she'd told him and told her that the ANBU was no place for her-that it would change her. It's made her angry at first, she thought he was doubting her ability as a ninja. She ended up not taking the position and was suddenly glad for it. ANBU had changed a lot since this time but it was still a covert ops group and that would never sit well with her.

After his sobbing had abated some Sakura stood and headed to the kitchen and filled a large bucket full of warm water and grabbed several washcloths before kneeling in front of Kakashi "We need to wash as much of this blood away as we can-the rest will have to be bathed off. But I want to heal your cuts."

"I don't deserve to be healed." he mumbled looking down at his blood covered fingers.

Sakura grabbed his chin and forced him to look up at her "Hey! Don't ever say that, you hear me?" he didn't reply and she began to wash the blood off the places she saw cuts and heal them. By the time she had finished the water was a murky red color and she dumped it outside onto the ground.

"Come on." she held his now clean hands and lifted him to his feet before leading him down the hall to the bathroom.

"Go in there and wash the rest of the blood off, i'll get you some clothes." she shut the bathroom door and headed over to his room, taking a quick breath she entered. The room was adequately furnished-similar to her own. She quickly found his clothing and pulled out a black shirt that had a longer neck to it, it would go over his face, and a pair of jeans a long with underwear. She turned to head back to the bathroom but remembered that he would need towels, hurrying back to the main room she opened a small closet where a seemingly inexhaustible number of towels always seemed to be and grabbed a few.

"Kakashi? I'm coming in." she knocked and slid the door open. The room was steamy and smelled of minerals.

Sakura squinted trying to see where Kakashi sat in the mineral pool but couldn't make out a figure, panic bloomed in her chest as she saw a flurry of bubbles break the surface. Dropping everything in her hands she ran for the pool, splashing inside and ignoring her wet clothes as she felt around the bottom the bottom of the pool until she felt the soft flesh of his arm. He'd wedged himself under a crevice to keep himself submerged. She grabbed his shoulder and yanked him to the surface, he instantly gasped for air and she shook him hard.

"What the hell do you think you were doing?" she yelled hitting his chest with her closed fists. "You don't just get to leave me like that, you are supposed to live damn it!"

"Is that so you can have your future Kakashi or is it for me." he mumbled nastily and Sakura felt as if he'd sucker punched her in the stomach.

"For you! I need you alive. Past, present, future, Kakashi I need you!" she stood indignantly in the water, looking up at him and his resolve seemed to crumple. He leaned his head onto her shoulder, "I don't want to remember this anymore, please make me forget-make it stop hurting."

He took her face in his hands and kissed her, his clumsy lips moving over hers before he pulled away and looked at her with pleading eyes, one red from his sharingan and the other greyer than the harshest hurricane.

She felt her eyes tinge with tears as her mind told her one thing and her heart screamed the other. Making the snap decision she slowly nodded, tears rolling down her cheeks.

* * *

**Author's Note: **

**So this chapter was a hard one to write since it does deal with some very sensitive topics such as death and desperation, I hope I handled it as well as I could. The next chapter will feature smut, I know it's a bit surprising the way that it's happening but I would like to illustrate that sex isn't just about passion and pleasure-it can also be for comfort and understanding and thats what Kakashi needs most at this moment. **

**Also; Naruto and his team are one step closer to finding the Kurama and Kakashi already has a hunch on where they will be-who will figure it out first and what will happen. This story has about four or five more chapters so stick around, I'd be very grateful!**

**Please Read & Review!**

**-LittleMoonLover-**


	11. Comforting Touches

**** MATURE CONTENT WARNING ****

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.

* * *

**PAST - Konoha, Secret Safehouse**

_Sakura_

They stood staring at each other for a moment after Sakura had nodded, the sound of water sloshing in through a crude grate in the wall was all that could be heard. Suddenly Kakashi's lips crashed down onto hers and she opened her mouth and let him explore, her fingers sliding along his wet skin to meet behind his neck. His shoulders weren't as wide as his older self's but she could feel the sinewy muscles flexing beneath the skin as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in, his lips which had been so clumsy earlier that day had already become confident and she tested him a little bit by swiping her tongue along his lower lip until his lips parted and she delved inside her tongue dancing with his for a moment.

Kakashi's fingers slid underneath the wet cloth that clung to her skin and she took a step back and shook her head "Not here." she explained simply and climbed out of the back and stripped her shirt off, beckoning him to follow as she headed out of the bathroom-taking off a piece of clothing every few steps until she was naked. The house was chilly compared to the bathroom, the cold air attacked her damp skin causing gooseflesh to rise in it's wake.

She took a left into Kakashi's room and stood just in the doorway, his room was just as neat as she'd left it "There are extra blankets in the wardrobe." Kakashi's voice came from right behind her. Sakura could feel the moist heat from her skin all along her back and she shivered, she turned her head to look at him but his eyes were roving along the silhouette of her body unabashedly. Sakura watched with pleasure as his eyes heated up and despite her nudity she didn't feel self conscious, she never did around Kakashi-old or young.

Moving further into the room and opened the wardrobe, aware that he was following her the whole time, and rifled through until she found several thick blankets that would cushion the ground since Kakashi's bed was too narrow to fit them both so she began to lay out the blankets, taking her time-she could feel Kakashi's impatience growing beside her and finally he grabbed her wrist causing her to release the blanket she'd been setting out and it fluttered to the floor. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the smooth skin of her shoulder, his lips prodded her skin until she smiled and turned to face him fully her fingers smoothing through his wet white hair spiking it out in all directions.

After a few seconds she placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed him down onto the mass of blankets that she'd just laid out and he grabbed her hand taking her with him until she lay along side him, the tips of her pert breasts just barely grazing his bicep as she hovered over him her lips dancing over his cheeks, chin, and lips.

"You can touch me if you like." She prompted taking his hand in her own and moving it to her breast, the skin of his hands were those of a shinobi-they had a roughness to them, and slowly his fingers splayed outwards as he got used to the soft plumpness of her breast.

Sakura marveled at the role switch that she was going through, she'd spent the entirety of her relationship with the elder Kakashi being taught-and even when they'd been intimate Kakashi had been the one to initiate each change in the phase of their lovemaking. But now Sakura was the teacher and Kakashi was letting her teach him, something inside of her gentled even further towards the teenager and with that gentleness she kissed him-willing healing into him. She smoothed her fingers over his torso sliding through the ridges of his muscular stomach until she reached his growing hardness. She caressed him lightly at first before wrapping her fingers around his member, watching as Kakashi's face tensed up and his hips jerked at the onslaught of sensations.

"Sakura." he groaned looking at her.

"Shhh." she reassured him and leaned in for another kiss, their tongues meeting roughly as she continued her ministrations. Kakashi began to become bolder and bolder until his hands freely roamed Sakura's body smoothing over her curves, squeezing here and there and watching Sakura's reactions to his fingers.

After a few minutes Sakura gave Kakashi's hardness a final caress before she broke away "Are you ready?" she asked and he placed a hand on the back of her head and brought her in for a rough, heated, kiss "I am." he affirmed and she pulled him by his shoulders until he was in a sitting position. Straddling his lap Sakura looked into his eyes before reaching down and guiding his head to her entrance, she lowered herself down onto his girth with one smooth stroke-her hands flew up to his shoulders.

They sat there for a moment, Kakashi's arms wrapped around her waist and her fingers clutching at his shoulders as they adjusted to one another-Sakura to his hardness and size and Kakashi to the new sensations that were running up and down his spine.

"I'm going to move now." Sakura murmured into his ear and he nodded, she lifted herself up using his shoulders for leverage before her rolled her hips slowly downwards. She began to slide upwards again but was stopped by his hands flying to her hips, his fingers digging into the plump skin there as he lifted her himself and pushed her back down roughly. Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck as he took over and they rocked back and forth together, Sakura let out a low moan and suddenly their speed began to pick up-her body began to tingle as the friction their bodies created seemed to ignite. Kakashi grunted beneath her, his hips bucked upwards and slammed into hers as he came. Sakura followed him a few moments later and she buried her face in his warm neck as the night exploded around them.

Sakura lay against his chest minutes later after the aftershocks had subsided. They lay in a comfortable silence, Kakashi's fingers trailing circles along her right shoulder. "Where did you get this scar?" he asked as his fingers traced the raised white skin of a burn scar.

"I got it during a war helping to save a friend." She replied honestly, he shifted beneath her.

"You've been in a war? But you're so young!" he exclaimed with surprise.

Sakura chuckled and snuggled further into his warmth "I was actually the same age as you are right now-it was three years ago." she didn't offer any more details about it, she didn't want to be the one to tell him that his best friend would be the cause of the war. In fact she didn't even want to tell him that Obito was alive. He would know eventually but she didn't want to ruin the relaxed moment.

"I'm sleepy." she murmured against his bare chest, and it wasn't a lie, the warm tendrils of sleep were inviting. He pulled her in closer and tucked the blanket around them and they both fell asleep in complete bliss-the memory of that awful day temporarily subdued.

* * *

Sakura woke up sometime later to the sound of rain, it tapped against the roof and she could hear the sigh of it outside. Being careful not to wake Kakashi she sat up and turned to look at him, he slept peacefully with one hand thrown over his head and the other was around her waist. She drank in his face, as it was a rare sight, her eyes following the curve of his square jaw and glancing at his lips and long nose. He was handsome.

She stood up and wrapped an extra blanket around her shoulders, quietly leaving the bedroom and heading down the hall to the main room where the door stood open revealing the thick drizzle of rain pouring down from the hole in the top of the mountain. She made herself some warm tea and leaned against the doorframe, watching the rain fall. Something about the sound of rain always calmed her and brought her an even deeper sense of peace.

"It's raining, huh?" Kakashi's voice came from behind her as his arms slid around her waist, she leaned into him lost in her own thoughts.

"I'm surprised it can get through the genjutsu." Sakura commented idly as they watched the rain together.

"The genjutsu just cloaks the entrance-it doesn't shield it, that would require more than one seal that would have to be replaced more than twice every four years and by that point the secret hideout would be pointless."

"Alright, Mr. Know-It-All." Sakura teased turning around and setting her mug of tea on the table, his arms which were chilled from the cold air wrapped around her waist and he pulled her in. She wrapped her arms around him covering him with the blanket and leaned into his chest.

"Do you want to do something that you're better than me at then?" he asked in her ear and a shciver tingled down her spine as he pulled her back towards the room. In the distance a loud rumble of thunder could be heard and for some reason a sense of foreboding shot through Sakura at the sound of it. But Kakashi's insistent lips distracted her from her worries.

* * *

**Author's Note: **

**Ahhh! Finally! It is a shorter chapter I will admit but I think the content of the chapter makes up for that don't you? Anyways I don't know when the next update will be seeing as I will be moving into my dorm for my freshman year of university this week so i'll be ridiculously busy but hopefully I will find some free time sometime this week and will be able to write out the rest of the story. I think we've only got four or five more chapters so hang in there everyone! **

**Anyways,**

**Please read & review!**

**-LittleMoonLover-**


	12. Into the Night

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.

* * *

**PRESENT - Konoha, Kakashi's apartment**

Kakashi leaned back against his couch, his chin tilted upwards as his eyes fluttered with exhaustion. He hadn't slept in nearly seventy-two hours and now that he was sitting at home with nothing to do except to wait until they found out more about the Gang.

"Kakashi." a sweet voice said from next to him and Kakashi opened his eyes, Sakura was sitting on the couch next to him dressed in a white sundress. "S...Sakura?" he asked and reached out for her, his fingers connected with her oddly icy cheek and she smiled.

"Kakashi are you looking for me?" she said her even icier hand came up to cup his hand.

"What…?" Kakashi asked in confusion "Why would I look for you-you're right here."

Sakura's smile turned sad and she let go of his hand before standing, her dress turning black as it swayed with the movement.

Kakashi reached for her hand but his touch made her hands start to crack and crumble, Kakashi watched with horror as her body evaporated before his eyes. "Why aren't you looking for me Kakashi? Please find me." sparkling tears washed down her pale cheeks as she dissolved and was gone.

Kakashi jerked awake gasping for air but his lungs contracted with panic and he gripped his chest trying to calm himself. He was lying in his bed with the sheets tangled about his legs, covered in a thin sheen of sweat as he fought to get his breathing back under control.

"Are you alright?" Sasuke stood in the doorway illuminated by the light from the kitchen, he was dressed in his shinobi clothing but his eyes were lidded as if he'd been roused from sleep as well by Kakashi's gasping.

"Yeah." Kakashi grunted.

"Bullshit." Sasuke snorted and headed further into the room.

"You're right." Kakashi ran a hand through his messy white hair "Sasuke I have to go find the Karasu."

"But we don't even know where they are…" Sasuke began but stopped "But you do."

"Yeah." Kakashi said simply.

"Why didn't you tell Naruto and the rest when we were discussing this earlier?" Sasuke asked, irritated.

"Because. I need to do this myself." Kakashi stated "It's my fault Sakura was sent back in time and it's up to me to get her back, period."

Sasuke rolled his eyes "Thats stupid." he retorted bluntly "You can't do everything by yourself, that stupid and illogical and you should know better."

"Watch it. Remember who taught you that in the first place Sasuke." Kakashi warned, pulling the sheets off of his legs and dragging his pants on and pulling on the thin black shirt and pulling the kerchief off of his face in favor for the black face mask that was attached to his shirt.

He pulled his flak jacket on and made sure all of his weapons were in order. "I could stop you you know." Sasuke said from his perch on Kakashi's dresser.

"Yeah. But you won't, we've always understood one another better than everyone else and you understand why i'm doing this by myself."

Sasuke didn't say anything and Kakashi pulled a pack onto his shoulders and turned to the door "I'll see you later." Sasuke stood to stop him but Kakashi pulled a cannister from his pack and tossed it into the floor, green smoke erupted from it's nozzle causing Sasuke to cough and drop to his knees.

"You'll be in a paralytic state for a few hours at the most." Kakashi told Sasuke quietly before heading to the door.

"See you Sasuke." Kakashi said over his shoulder before letting the door shut behind him.

* * *

_Sasuke_

_Two hours later…_

The use of Sasuke's limbs started to come back slowly and then all at once leaving him gasping as the pins and needles receded from his legs and arms and he sat up with a groan. Touching the mark on his neck which signalled for Ino he coughed once "Ino." he groaned raggedly.

"Is he gone?" Ino's voice filtered into his mind.

"Yeah just like you said he would, the only problem is that he's got a two hour lead on us." Sasuke rolled onto his feet, ignoring the soreness from lying on the floor for two hours.

"What do you mean?" Ino's irate voice asked sharply making him wince.

"Well he had a cannister of paralytic-I don't know how he got that since it's pretty hard to find especially that strong." Sasuke headed for the door.

"You got too comfortable Sasuke," Ino chided "But you got the tracker on him, right?"

"Yeah I did, I performed the jutsu while he was asleep. It wasn't hard since he hadn't slept in three days. He didn't even stir. I'm on my way to follow him now." Sasuke informed her as he stepped onto the landing outside of Kakashi's apartment.

"Meet in the forest with the rest of the retrieval squad, I'm on my way with Naruto and Shikamaru." Ino ordered.

"Wait, the dobe is coming?" Sasuke queried.

"Yes he is, he wouldn't stay behind."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, the idiot never learned when to quit. "Alright I'll be there in ten."

"See you then." Sasuke bunched tension in his legs before springing from the landing and onto the nearest rooftop and off into the night.

* * *

**PAST - Konoha, Secret Safehouse**

_Sakura_

Sakura awoke the next morning to the sound of birdsong, she had fallen asleep sometime earlier that morning to the sound of Kakashi's slow breathing and rat-tat of the rain on the tin roof. Sunlight filtered in through the window playing over their skin and warming her skin, stretching she rolled over-her bare skin bumping with Kakashi's and she stared up at him, he was looking back at her with calm gray eyes. "Are you feeling better?" she asked tentatively hoping that Kakashi's younger self wouldn't panic as much as the older had after their first night.

"Yeah, I am." he replied simply and Sakura let out a sigh of relief before laying back down on his chest.

"I'm glad." she said quietly and smiled as his arm came around her shoulder and pulled her upwards until her head rested in the crook of his neck.

"We have to get up." she murmured against the warm skin of his neck and he shook his head "No we don't." he grumbled.

Sakura opened her mouth to say something but the sound of voices filtered into the house, "Kakashi? Sakura-chan?" Kurenai's voice came from the front of the safehouse.

Kakashi cursed under his breath "Maybe if we're really quiet they'll think we're not here." he grumbled and Sakura giggled before sitting up and pulling a shirt on over her head. "Hey thats mine." Kakashi protested and she ignored him as she pulled on a pair of pants as well.

"You have more," she teased "I'll be in my room, see you in a few." she planted a quick kiss on his mouth before hurrying from the room before the group of people in the front of the house saw her.

She changed into her own clothes lightening fast before heading into the main room with a smile, Kakashi was sitting at the table with a steaming cup of tea in front of him. He looked up at her as she walked in and she gave him a quick wink before turning to Kurenai and Asuma who were also sitting at the table "Hello everybody!" Sakura said brightly before sitting down at the table next to Kakashi.

"Sakura! Just the girl I was looking for." Kurenai said standing and grabbing Sakura's hand and dragging her upwards "Lets go have a chat."

Kurenai dragged Sakura outside and onto the lawn before she turned to Sakura "He seems to be in much better spirits than he was last night." the girl started and Sakura nodded slowly "Yes he is…"

Kurenai stood quietly for a moment, "Sakura we know you're from the future."

Sakura gasped with surprise "The third Hokage brought us into the fold last night when we went to talk to him-I think he thought it would distract us from trying to get Kakashi out of ANBU."

Sakura looked at Kurenai who had a whole new understanding in her eyes, "We were told that we weren't supposed to ask about our futures even though we're going to forget you were ever here when you leave."

"But you want to ask anyways." Sakura stated, her chest hurting from the realization that Kurenai was going to ask about her and Asuma.

"Yeah, I do." the dark haired girl's red eyes shifted from Sakura to somewhere behind her-no doubt to where Asuma was sitting with Kakashi. "What happens to us? Asuma and me I mean."

Sakura's hand flew up to her chest and curled into a fist, how could she tell her that the love of her life would die before their child is born? She couldn't. "You two grow older and have a baby girl-she's so sweet…" Sakura trailed off thinking about the sweet little girl who would be turning four years old soon.

Kurenai examined Sakura more closely before opening her mouth to say something else but is cut off by shouting from behind them, Guy was running up to them with wide eyes.

"Kurenai, you're needed by the third." the boy said out of breath.

"Why?" Kurenai asked.

"Because you're needed to track some rogue ninjas-they've kidnapped a Hyuuga child."

Sakura's chest tightened, this sounded all too familiar "What is the child's name?" she asked Guy, turning him to face her.

Guy huffed for a moment before answering "Hinata Hyuuga."

* * *

**Author's Note: **

**Plot twist! Huzzah! The next few chapters will be plot heavy for both sides-the next will focus primarily in the past and the one after primarily in the present. Sorry that this chapter is shorter than others I've been tired and a little writers blocky ever since I made it to school so this is probably not my best chapter ever either. But anyways I hope you enjoy and are still hanging in for the rest of the story. **

**Please read and review!**

**-LittleMoonLover-**


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